To Bear Love's Cross
by EWhiteOwl18
Summary: Amu, the daughter of a Catholic preacher and a religion teacher. Ikuto, the leader of a gang. What will happen when the two meet? And how will they react when Ikuto's enemies prey on Amu to get to Ikuto? Rated T for Ikuto and VERY mild language.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, guys! WhiteOwl18 again. It's been a while since i last uploaded something but that's because I'm trying to finish writing all my fanfics before publishing them(to cut the lag time between chapters down). I soon realized that wasn't gonna work because my mind won't let me work that fast. :) (Layla: No, you're just too lazy. Me: You don't give me enough credit, you know. Believe it or not, I actually don't have a very fast-working imagination. My other Shugo Chara fanfic took me a year to finish.) I've had this idea for a while and was a little iffy about writing it because Ikuto and Amu are gonna be the same age as they were in the anime, but then with the counsel of a friend, I decided it would be okay. So here it is! By the way, I don't own the song Only the Good Die Young(the song this was based on) or Shugo Chara. And I honestly have no earthly clue what religion Amu and her family are(probably Shinto) but for the sake of the story, let's just say she's Catholic because Virginia in the song was Catholic.**

**To Bear Love's Cross**

**Chapter 1**

The midnight-haired teenager strolled into the dusty old warehouse like he owned the place. And for all the rest of the world cared, he did. This place had been essentially ignored since 1985. If he hadn't stumbled in here three years ago, it probably would've collapsed from disuse. It'd taken months to get it looking semi-normal as things stood.

The world hardly cared what happened to this place. But they certainly should care what happened _inside._ This particular teenager was the head of a gang and obviously on the fast-track for mischief.

"Hey!" he yelled. "Anybody here?" There was a stretch of silence before a cardboard box fell somewhere deeper inside the building. He made his way in that direction. His deep blue eyes dropped to another teenaged boy lying on the floor by his feet. "What the hell are you doing, Kukai?"

Kukai Souma scrambled to his feet and grinned at his friend and higher-up. He made a sort of salute in the newcomer's direction. "I was just so excited to see you, I couldn't control myself, Tsukiyomi."

"Hmph." Ikuto Tsukiyomi walked past the way-too-hyper boy and toward the select few of his gang he'd invited to this get together. Kukai was right behind him.

The only other two he'd asked to come were both girls. There was a short blonde girl who looked more like an angel than the demon he knew her to be. "Rima, nice to see you again."

Rima rolled her eyes and replied coolly, "You act like I came because I wanted to. Yaya was the one who dragged me here. You know that."

Yes, Ikuto did know that. The other younger girl is the only reason Rima ever came to any of these meetings. Not because she respected the girl who acted more like a baby-no, it's more like she listens just to make her shut up.

"Yaya is happy Ikuto-tan is here! Did Ikuto-tan bring Yaya candy?" Chuckling, Ikuto tossed her a plastic bag he'd carried in with him. Yaya looked like he'd just given her the Holy Grail.

Kukai nudged Ikuto's shoulder. "Want one?"

Ikuto glanced down at the cigarette box he was being offered. He shook his head. "Nah, I'm good." Kukai shrugged and took one of them for himself. His lighter flicked to life and ignited the cigarette. Ikuto had never really liked them; he didn't like the taste they left in his mouth.

"Catch."

Ikuto turned just in time to grasp the bottle flying towards his head. He turned it to look at the label. "Corona?" Rima nodded. Ikuto still didn't know why she ever brought him anything. The girl had never been his biggest fan. But it seemed that most of the time she came prepared with some kind of drink. He popped the bottlecap off. "Thanks."

The four took a brief moment to relax. Rima broke the silence. "Why did you call us here?"

Ikuto smirked. "What? I can't just have a friendly little get together with my friends? There has to be a reason?"

Rima frowned. "There's _always _a reason. So what is it this time?"

Ikuto leaned back and looked up the ceiling. "I just have a strange feeling. Like something big's gonna happen soon. I don't really know what though. I wanted to ask if anything weird's happened with you."

There was silence as they all paused and thought about it. None of them could think of anything. "Are you sure you aren't just gonna heave your guts out?"

Leave it to Kukai to say something ridiculous tactlessly. "Yes, Kukai, I'm sure. Though your concern is touching."

No one spoke for a moment. Then Yaya screamed.

Ikuto and Kukai were on their feet in a second. Rima was tense and scanning the area around her.

Yaya cried out, "SPIDER! SPIDER!" She burst out into tears.

Sighs escaped from everyone's mouths. Kukai walked over to Yaya and killed the spider. "It's okay, Yaya. The spider's dead now."

Ikuto was getting a migraine. "I'm heading out, guys." He placed his barely touched alcohol on the ground. "Try not to kill yourselves."

The young gang leader walked out of the warehouse, rubbing his temples.

* * *

"Bless us, oh Lord, for these thy gifts which we are about to receive from thy bounty, through Christ Our Lord. Amen."

"Let's eat!" The family of four lifted their chopsticks and began eating their dinner.

"So, Amu, how was your day at school today?" the mother asked.

The pinkette add the head of the table swallowed her rice and shrugged. "The same as normal. Math class was less than fun, though. We're learning basic ratios, but I just don't get it. No matter how hard I try I just can't understand it."

Midori Hinamori smiled. "How is Tadase doing?"

Amu Hinamori blushed for a moment at the tone her mother used when saying his name. "Mom! I already told you I don't like him!" Under her breath she added, "Not anymore."

Tsumugu started sobbing. "No! I will _not _allow this to happen! Not to my little sparrow!"

Amu's eyebrow twitched. _Fourth Commandment, Amu. Honor your father and mother. Remember the Fourth Commandment... _"It's okay, Dad, it's not like that. You're little sparrow isn't going anywhere."

"I wike Tadase!" Ami cried.

"No! I refuse to give you to a boy! Ami...!" A fresh wave of tears hit Tsumugu.

"Honey..." Midori said to her husband with a warning in her voice.

Amu placed her chopsticks next to her food and said, "Excuse me." She stood and started walking away from the table.

"Amu!"

Amu turned to look back at her mother. "Yes?"

The older woman smiled. "Don't forget to say your prayers."

The girl nodded in acknowledgement. "Good night." She walked up the stairs and kneeled next to her bed. She ran through a mental list of prayers and decided on her favorite one.

_"Now I lay me down to sleep.  
I pray the Lord my sould to keep.  
If I should die before I wake,  
I pray to God my sould to take.  
If I should live for other days,  
I pray the Lord to guide my ways._

_Father, unto thee I pray,  
Thou hast guarded me all day;  
Safe I am while in thy sight,  
safely let me sleep tonight.  
Bless my friends, the whole world bless;  
Help me to learn helpfulness;  
Keep me ever in thy sight;  
So to all I say good night."_

**WOW, that was a bad first chapter. I'm sorry, I'm having writer's block, but I swear the rest will be better than this! This is sort of a prologue, just a little introduction to the the lives they lead. So Ikuto is a gang leader and Amu is the daughter of religion extremists. :) So what do you think? Rate, review, follow. I promise it'll get better!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay! So I'm back! I'm really depressed because I just found out that the same person voice-acted Light Yagami, Riku(from Kingdom Hearts XD), Death the Kid, and Zero Kiryu... WHY?! *bursts into tears* But onto the story!**

**To Bear Love's Cross**

**Chapter 2**

"Amu! You need to get up! If you don't get dressed, we're going to be late for Sunday Mass!"

Amu sat up drowsily, rubbing her eyes. She glanced at the clock; seven o' clock. She had to be at the Church for eight-thirty. "Five more minutes, please," I groaned. Amu's mother laughed behind her daughter's door.

"How about you meet us at Church? You are twelve now, and it isn't too far from here. What do you say?" There was a mumbled "kay" on the other side of the door and Midori laughed again, walking away. "Just make sure you don't sleep too late."

Amu was hardly coherent. She'd stayed up later than usual the night before. She glanced at the clock again briefly. Seven-ten. Her vision went fuzzy. Just a little bit longer wouldn't be too bad... The sound of the front door closing barely even registered in her mind before she was once again asleep.

* * *

Patches of sunlight broke through the leaves of the trees as the wind blew gently. Brilliantly colored flowers were scattered around the landscape. It was a beautiful scene.

Except for the beaten teenaged boy who was walking slowly and clumsily up the overgrown path.

Blood was dripping down Ikuto's cheek and he had a feeling that his left leg wouldn't work quite the right way for the next few days. There was a decently sized slash on his upper right arm. Ikuto was pressing his left hand against said gash. He laughed quietly, almost bitterly. _I'm getting rusty. It's been a while since I got hit._

The ground dipped under Ikuto's bad leg and he stumbled to the ground. He cried out in surprise as he hit the grass. He laid there for a moment, not moving. Then, sighing, he pushed himself up and dragged himself to a tree nearby. The only sound was the leaves brushing against each other and the occasional bird singing.

_Ding! Dong! Ding! Dong!_

Ikuto glanced at the sky quizzically. _Church bells?_

* * *

Amu slowly opened her eyes, yawning. She turned to look at the clock beside her bed. A gasp escaped her lips. _No, it can't be _this _late. _She rubbed her eyes, positive that they _had _to be blurred from sleep. But when she looked at the clock again, the numbers hadn't changed. Eight-fifteen.

Amu shot out of bed and ran around the room, looking for clothes to wear, her hair brush, everything she would need to get ready. It would take ten minutes to get to the church on her bike, which meant she had five to get ready. The way she tried to brush her hair, dress herself, and brush her teeth at the same time was actually quite funny to watch.

Once she looked semi-presentable, Amu glanced at the clock again. Exactly eight-twenty. She ran down the stairs and out the front door, locking it. She hopped on her bike and pedaled as hard as she could towards the church. She could hear the church bells chiming. _Oh, no. Five minutes left! There's not enough time to go the main way. Only once choice._

Amu turned off the paved road and onto a dirt path that had long been forgotten. She bended over the handle bars so as not to hit her head on any of the protruding branches above her. _Almost there..._

Suddenly, a teenage boy appeared around the bend of the path. Amu came to a screeching stop, almost falling over.

The boy had navy blue hair that-though she was embarrassed to admit it-she desperately wanted to touch because it looked so soft. He was sitting with his back on a tree but even in his position she could tell that he was tall-_really _tall. Much taller than her, at least. His frame was lean and agile, like a cat's. His eyes were closed. _Is he sleeping? _

Amu was about to leave and hurry on her way when she spotted something red. Her golden eyes widened. _Blood? _She rushed over to the teenager-she pinned him at sixteen or seventeen. There was a slash on his right arm and a cut on his cheek. The cut on his arm looked clean, like it had been done with a knife of some sort-Amu shivered at the thought-but the one on his cheek looked jagged and rough like some kind of just-sharp-enough-to-cut object. _I wonder what it was...? _

"See something you like?"

Amu jumped. _Was that...? _

"You know, when you start staring at people like that when they sleep you look like a pervert."

A blush spread across Amu's cheeks. "M-me? _You're _the pervert! I wasn't even thinking about that!"

The teenager opened his eyes. His sapphire blue eyes that were so beautiful and deep, though Amu was reluctant to admit it to herself. "You're staring again."

Amu blinked rapidly. "A-am not!"

The teenager laughed. "What, are we in fifth grade now?"

Amu folded her arms across her flat chest. "In case you didn't notice, _I _am. Who _are _you, anyways?"

The boy looked her in the eyes. "Ikuto Tsukiyomi."

Amu froze. She'd heard that name before. He was a gang member-no, not just a member. He was a gang _leader. _The youngest one ever, she'd heard. _So why is a gang leader that is so infamous on this abandoned path bloodied up like this?_

Covering her shock, Amu held out her hand for him to shake it. "Amu Hinamori. It's nice to meet you." Ikuto stared at her hand and looked back up to her face. Awkwardly and impatiently, Amu bent over to reach for his hand. Her knee accidentally knocked against his leg. Ikuto winced and sucked in a breath.

_He's hurt worse than I thought, _Amu pondered. _I need to help him. But I won't have time to go to Church if I do... _Amu shook her head. _No, this needs to come first. I can go to a later Mass, but Ikuto can't wait! _"You need first aid."

Ikuto snorted. "For this? I've had worse. You know who I am, right? This is nothing. Just a few scratches, that's all." He tried to stand but his left knee buckled under the weight he put on it.

"See? You need help! Don't be so stubborn!"

Ikuto stared at the girl, eyes wide. _She's actually gonna help me? Ikuto Tsukiyomi? She does know who I am, right? I mean, she seemed to react to my name earlier... But she stayed after. Who _is _this chick? _

"Come here, let me see your wounds." Amu slowly rolled up Ikuto's right sleeve, trying to be gentle so as not to hurt him more than he already was. Ikuto flinched. "Ah! I'm sorry!"

Ikuto looked away from Amu's face. "I don't know," he said. "That really hurt. I'm not sure if a 'sorry' will be enough."

Amu stared at Ikuto warily. "What's that supposed to mean?" She didn't trust that tone in his voice.

"Well, you could try to kiss the pain away-"

"Y-y-yeah right!" Amu's cheeks were red hot. "P-pervert!"

"Didn't I just talk to you about real perverts a few minutes ago?"

"Sh-shut up! This is what I get for trying to help you!" Under her breath, Amu added, "How did you get yourself this hurt anyways?"

Ikuto, however, heard the girl's question. "How do you think?"

Amu didn't answer. Wasn't it obvious? He was in a _gang_-he was the _leader _of a gang. It had been more of a rhetorical question anyways.

"I need to go get my first aid kit. You stay here, okay? I'll be back in ten minutes!" Amu hopped onto her bike again and went back the way she came.

Ikuto sat in the same place, watching her retreating back. "Amu, huh?"

Meanwhile, Amu had just reached her house and was skimming through her closet, searching for the first aid kit she knew was in there. _Where is it...?_ It suddenly appeared under a pile of clothes. "Aha!" She grabbed the small box and ran back outside. She raced back down the path and slowed to a stop. She looked around. She could've sworn he'd been in that spot. She walked a little bit farther, but saw no blue-haired teenager.

Ikuto was gone.

_Almighty and Everlasting God, the eternal salvation of those who believe in You, hear us on behalf of Your servants who are sick, for whom we humbly beg the help of your mercy, so that, being restored to health, they may render thanks to you in your Church. Through Christ our Lord. Amen_

**Jeez, this was a long wait. Sorry! I had writer's block for a while. And then when I finally had it, something else occurred to me and suddenly I was in ANOTHER writer's block. It was a pain in the neck. *holds head* Ugh, I have a headache from it now. So what do you think? Rate, Review, follow, love them all! So... Please? :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay, so I'm back! Um... Not really much to say. Did I do a disclaimer for this story? I don't know. Well, I don't own Shugo Chara, so... Yeah. :)**

**To Bear Love's Cross**

**Chapter 3**

_It was dark outside, the only light coming from an old street lamp that was cloudy from neglect. There wasn't a living soul out on this particular street. So nobody noticed the man with a mask standing over another in a back alley. Nobody could see the blood on the ground or the fat rivulets of water that dripped down the injured man's cheeks._

_The man on the ground had long ago crawled into a ball, trying to protect his vital organs. The masked man placed his foot on the other's side. "You know what you did. Right, Akito Hijiri?" He applied more pressure on Akito's side._

_Akito cried out in pain. "No, I don't know what you're talking about!"_

_The masked man made a noise in the back of his throat. "Really? You don't remember slapping that girl around and beating her almost to death? Or what about that little boy? You know, the one from eight days ago who had to go to the hospital because you lost your temper? Or did that not seem significant to you because there wasn't enough evidence to get you arrested? You know, jailtime isn't the only punishment that can be given." He stepped harder on Akito. "Like this."_

_Akito screamed, but no one heard him. Or if they did, they didn't move to help him. "Okay, okay, I shouldn't have done that! I admit it! But it won't happen again, i promise! I'll stop! I promise!"_

_The masked man laughed bitterly, coldly. "You promise? Am I supposed to take your word for it? Who do you think I am?" He leaned down until he was face-to-face with Akito. "You should recognize this mask. Even if the general public doesn't, any gangster should."_

_Akito looked closely at the mask, although he already knew exactly what it looked like from the rumors. It almost looked like a mixture of the two drama masks-one half with a smile, the other half with a frown. A red tear was painted on the left side as if it cried and on the direct opposite side was a diamond. The way it glowed white in the night had earned him the nickname "the Phantom."_

_The Phantom pulled a switchblade out of his back pocket. Akito's eyes widened. "N-no! I swear, I'll never do it again! Don't kill me! Oh, God, save me!"_

_The Phantom frowned behind the mask. "A mobster who believes in God? That's a new one." The Phantom brought the hilt of the knife down on Akito's head, knocking him unconscious. _

_The Phantom stared down at the limp man's body for a moment before looking at the starless sky. "God, huh?"_

* * *

The door closed downstairs. "Amu!"

The pinkette hopped off her bed, already prepared to explain her absence from Church. "Okay, so here's what happened-"

Amu's mother hugged her tightly. "You scared me! When you never showed up I was worried that something bad had happened! Are you okay? You aren't hurt, are you?" She held her daughter at arm's distance and looked her up and down.

Amu laughed. "No, I'm fine, Mom. It's just that I was on my way to Church when I saw a boy on the side of the road. He was hurt so I decided that you would understand if I missed going to Mass with you. I can go again later today. That... That is okay, right? He was just really hurt, and he couldn't wait."

"Of course that's okay!" Midori said. "I'm sure God will understand why you chose to do what you did, and that's all that really matters. Oh, by the way, I brought a little someone home! He wanted to see if you were okay, and I just couldn't say no."

A blonde head bobbed around Amu's mother and pinkish-red eyes bored into her head. "Amu-chan, are you okay? Did anything happen to you?"

Amu waved her arms in front of her chest awkwardly. "No, no, everything's fine, Tadase-kun. I just saw a boy on the side of the path that needed my help."

Tadase smiled. "That's good. When I didn't see you with your family I got nervous. I prayed to God that you weren't hurt. And my prayers were answered."

I laughed quietly. "Really?"

Amu's mom tilted her head to the side for a moment. "Come to think of it, do you know this boy's name?"

For some reason unknown to me, a blush lit up my cheeks. I smothered it quickly before saying, "Yes, his name was Ikuto." _No need to tell her it's Ikuto Tsukiyomi._

Midori smiled. "That name sounds familiar. Let's see... Where do I know that name from?"

"Oh, no, you're probably just imagining things-"

"I've got it! That's the name of Utau's older brother, right? So he could be Ikuto Hoshina."

Amu blinked and laughed a little. "You know, Utau does have a brother named Ikuto, doesn't she? Isn't that ironic. It probably isn't the same Ikuto though."

Tadase squirmed like he wanted to say something but didn't add anything to the conversation.

"Well, I should probably start getting dressed properly for Mass." _Considering the first time I did it I ended up looking like I'd raided a clothing store and put on whatever had been closest to me._ She'd put on baggy black pants and a pink polka dot dress that went down to her knees. She hadn't even noticed until after she'd gotten home. And somehow it had bothered her that Ikuto had seen her wearing that.

"Ah, Amu-chan-"

The pinkette turned to look at Tadase. Her mother had left after learning Ikuto's name. "Yes, Tadase-kun?"

Tadase squirmed nervously. "Well, I just wanted to know if maybe sometime this week we could-"

"AMU-CHAN!" Amu's father ran through the door all but pushing Tadase out of the way. He practically tackled her in a hug. "Amu-chan, my little sparrow, you _scared _me!"

Amu sweat-dropped. "Yeah, I'm sorry, Dad. I saw a boy on the side of the road-"

"A BOY?! I WILL NOT ALLOW THIS!" Amu flinched at the volume of her father's voice. _I'm going to be deaf by the time I'm eighteen at this rate._

"Of course not, Dad." Amu sighed. Amu glanced at Tadase. "What was it that you were saying? Something about this week?"

Tadase shook his head frantically, blushing. "No! It's nothing, nothing. Don't worry about it. I have to go. See you later, Amu-chan!" Tadase ran out the door. Amu watched his retreating back.

"I wonder what that was about."

* * *

Ikuto was in his room, changing silently so as not to warn any of the others in the house of his presence. He glanced down at his bare arm which was covered by layer of bandages. His leg was in much the same condition. He sported a band-aid on his cheek. He shook his head and pulled on his shool uniform shirt.

He stared at himself in the mirror. Just staring. His reflection stared right back at him. Suddenly, he heard footsteps coming toward his door. "Ikuto? Is that you?"

He was already out the window the moment the door opened. The woman that stood there stared at the open window and whispered, "Ikuto..."

_Dear Lord! _  
_Make me remember, _  
_when the world seems cold and dreary _  
_and I know not where to turn for comfort, _  
_that there is always one spot bright and cheerful,_  
_the Sanctuary. _  
_When I am in desolation of spirit, _  
_when all who are dear to me have passed away _  
_like summer flowers _  
_and none are left to love me and care for me, _  
_whisper to my troubled soul_  
_that there is one Friend who dies not, _  
_one who's Love never changes_  
_Jesus on the altar. _  
_When sorrow thicken and crush me with their burden, _  
_when I look in vain for comfort, _  
_let me remember Your words: _  
_"Come to Me, _  
_all you who labor and are heavily burdened, _  
_and I will refresh you."_

**So... Yeah. Chapter 3! Rate, review, fave, follow... Please? :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey! Sorry it took so long to update. There's been quite a bit going on lately... Plus, I honestly had no earthly clue what this chapter would be about until I actually started writing it, so... Yeah. Hope you like it!**

**To Bear Love's Cross**

**Chapter 4**

Ikuto sat leisurely on a wooden crate in the warehouse while his closest friends socialized. Ikuto said nothing.

"Get out of my face when you're smoking that thing, Kukai. It smells awful, and while you don't care that you're ruining your lungs, I happen to like mine just the way they are."

"Aw, don't be that way, blondie. It's not that bad. It's actually really good once you try it."

"Ooh! Does it taste like candy?"

"No, Yaya, it tastes like death and burning things and all bad things rolled into one."

"Don't listen to Rima, Yaya. She's just a buzzkill. I bet she'd take away your candy if she ever got the chance."

"Whaaaat? Would Rima-tan really take my candy?!"

"Believe what you want. But you're annoying either way, so there's really no point. You would just whine that much more if I did."

"Yay! Rima-tan won't steal my candy!"

Ikuto cleared his throat loudly. The three others turned to look at him, quieting down immediately. The oldest of the bunch looked at each of them in turn before speaking.

"I'm getting you together because I want to ask you if anything bad has happened to you lately."

Kukai laughed. "Dude, is this about that bad feeling you told us about last time? Are really that worried about it?" He laughed again. "You're getting too worked up about it."

"Well," Rima stated, "if you paid more attention to anything but yourself you would notice that there's been a lot of nothing going on lately."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Yaya questioned.

"No, Yaya. Things are _too _quiet. There's none of the usual scuffles. This is very, very bad." Ikuto placed a hand over his eyes. "It's like everyone is preparing for something bigger." He removed his hand and looked everyone in the eyes as he said quietly but firmly, "Keep your eyes open. Watch everything. It's dangerous territory we're getting pulled into. There's no telling what mobsters in war will do; nothing good. If you can, tell as many of the others in our gang about this. Got it?"

The joking air that had permeated the room was completely gone at that point, replaced by a serious and almost deadly vibe. Even Kukai had a sober expression on his face.

Ikuto closed his eyes and said, "You know, it's not like you guys to be so serious. It's a little creepy. Try to take what I said seriously, but don't get quiet so suddenly like that."

There was silence for another moment. Then, suddenly, someone laughed. It started out as a quiet chuckle before slowly becoming a loud cackle. "Oh, god, Ikuto!" Kukai gasped. "You're normally telling us to be quieter, and now you're saying not to shut up! Oh, this is too great!"

"Shut up, Kukai!" Rima exclaimed, trying hide her own small laugh.

"Rima-tan is laughing too!" Yaya yelled. "Rima-tan! You _never _laugh!"

Ikuto tried to paste a scowl onto his face but couldn't help but smile a little bit. Just a little bit. But none of the others noticed it. They'd already leaped back into their usual chaotic loudness.

They didn't need to know that Ikuto actually liked listening to them yell so happily.

* * *

"Okay, everyone, let's get started!"

Yukari Sanjo smiled at the group of kids in front of her. Nagihiko Fujisaki, Kairi Sanjo-her own little brother-Utau Hoshina, and Amu Hinamori. They were the few kids in the church's youth group. After all, they were a small church, and not all kids found interest in the religious organization. But the four children here more than made up for the lack of other kids. Even Utau who was the newest of them had shown obvious effort in the one function she'd participated in.

"So," Sanjo-san continued. "We need to decide what our next function is going to be. We need to try and make it something that kids your age enjoy. As much as I love you four, and as hard as you all work, there's still only four of you. You can't work yourselves too hard. If we do something that the other kids would like, they might decide to join the group. So what do you think?"

Kairi pushed his glasses up his nose. "We should have another picnic. We had a good turnout last time."

"Yeah, but that didn't get us any new people in our group," Nagihiko pointed out.

"You're such a stiff, Kairi," Utau said. "_A picnic? _I was against it last time. We are _not _doing that again."

"We could sponsor a game of laser tag," Nagihiko thought aloud.

"I'm sorry, but we can't," Sanjo-san apologized. "But our church wouldn't let us. Laser tag includes guns, laser or not. That's not something a Catholic youth group can sponsor."

"Well, what else is there?" Utau mumbled. She always got into a bad mood when they were brainstorming for their next event. She could never come up with anything that was appropriate for the younger kids in the group. Plus, she liked things just the way they were. They didn't need anyone else.

"Um..." Amu started. "How about we have a carnival?"

Everyone turned to look at her. "A carnival?"

Amu nodded. "Well, don't you guys like going to carnivals? It would be a lot of fun."

Sanjou-san sighed and looked at Amu sympathetically. "That's a really good idea and kids your age would like it, but that would be too much work for the five of us. And we don't have the money to do it. That would cost hundreds of dollars."

Kairi spoke up. "Well, if my calculations are correct, this carnival could boost the size of our group by at least five hundred percent."

"And it really would be a lot of fun," Amu said again. "Please? We're willing to work as hard as possible."

Sanjo-san sighed. "I really would love to do this with all of you. Really, I would. But we don't have enough money. I'm sorry."

"We can do fundraisers!" Nagihiko exclaimed. "Things like selling chocolate, or car washes, or bake sales. Or all of the above. Or more."

"And if we need more people, we can ask the priest to put an ad in the church newspaper asking for volunteers, or maybe make an announcement at mass," Amu added.

"Please, Sanjo-san?" the three of them asked sweetly. Utau stayed silent. As much as she wanted to say she was against this completely... She wasn't. She really did want to do this carnival. It _would _be a lot of fun. Even if more people joined the youth group because of it. She was teetering on the edge of agreement and rejection. She would have to leave the decision to Sanjo-san.

The woman in question was balancing on the same edge as Utau. The kids obviously wanted to do this, and if they raised enough money and got enough volunteers, then they could pull off an event even this large. She sighed.

"Fine," she said wearily. The kids all exclaimed happily. Except Utau. She simply smiled. "But!" The kids stopped. "You have to raise at least one thousand dollars." They widened their eyes. That was a lot of money to make on fundraisers like the ones they had planned. "And at least fifty volunteers."

Dread filled all of their stomachs. They had a lot of work ahead of them.

* * *

Utau and Amu walked into the older girl's house. They'd decided that they needed to spend more time thinking of ways to raise money. The volunteers would definitely be hard to get, but the money was their main worry. One thousand dollars. _One thousand dollars. _

"I think this is totally unfair," Utau scoffed. "How can she put this much pressure on four kids?"

"Well, technically," Amu offered, "You aren't a kid."

Utau rolled her eyes. "Technicalities."

Amu sighed and a determined look appeared on her face. "Okay. Well, I'm going to start with trying to sell some baked goods at my school. I can ask everyone if they want anything and then I'll make them and hand them out."

Utau nodded. "That's a good idea. I'll do that at my school too. We can work together. What are we gonna make?"

"Hmm... Cookies, definitely. Brownies too. I'd say cake but won't that be hard to get to school? It's not really easy to bring to school like cookies and brownies."

"We'll think about that later. I know how to make lemon squares. Sanjo-san taught me a while ago because she found out I really liked them."

"Awesome! And we can come up with some other things as we go along."

"Great!" Utau exclaimed happily. "We can tell that to everyone else, too. See how many people want to order things."

Amu smiled. "Cool. This is going to be fun."

Utau nodded. "I'll go get us something to drink. Is Coke okay?"

"Yeah, that's great. Thanks!"

Utau walked out of the room and started singing quietly to herself. Amu sighed in peace. She loved Utau's voice. It was so pretty, so angelic. She recognized the tune. She was almost positive that song was-

_Thump._

Amu froze. A cold feeling welled up in her stomach. _What was that? _She glanced in the kitchen at Amu. It appeared that Utau hadn't noticed the sound. She was happily pouring Coke in two cups. Amu couldn't help but worry about the sound she'd heard upstairs. She looked around the room, seeing a Guitar Hero guitar sitting right next to the TV. She quietly unplugged it and crept up the stairs.

Amu walked slowly and as silently as she possibly could. She held the guitar like a weapon, preparing for anything.

There was a total of two rooms upstairs. One was Utau's room and the other was a room that was always empty. According to Utau, it was her brother's room, but he was never home so it was more like a guest bedroom. Amu listened carefully, trying to hear anything to signal where the intruder was.

_Swish._

_There! _The person was in Utau's brother's room. Amu was about to step toward the room when she hesitated. What if this person was really dangerous? He could be a killer, for all she knew. She almost turned back around. Almost. But she realized that she couldn't just let this person do what he or she pleased.

Breathing in a deep breath, Amu tightened her grasp on the video game guitar, holding it like a bat. _Protect me, God, _she prayed silently.

She twisted the knob and threw the door open.

Her eyes widened and the guitar slipped out of her hands, clattering to the floor.

And she screamed as loudly as her lungs allowed.

_Almighty God, I thank thee for the courage that comes with a great life._  
_Help me to be brave, even if it is only that others may be blest._  
_May I lay a careful foundation and plan to build the best that I can afford._  
_Amen._

**Jeez. It took long enough to find a good prayer on bravery. Yeesh. Well, that's it. Rate, review, fave, follow. Please!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey, people! (Layla: Shut up. Me: No. This is my brain. You shut up. Ivory: But what if this is actually my mind and your just a voice in mine? Me: O.O Lena: When did Ivory get so philosophical? Me: ...) Sorry. Mental conflict. XP So I know this is actually a surprisingly fast update for me. It's just that I'm trying to make my writing slower cuz I know that it's way too fast but I'm really excited about a scene that's coming up some time soon. It's gonna be so fun to write. XD But ANYWAYS. Enough of this. Here's the fifth chapter. Hope you like it! :D (Layla: No one's gonna like it. Give up. Me: :'( )**

**To Bear Love's Cross**

**Chapter 5**

_Breathing in a deep breath, Amu tightened her grasp on the video game guitar, holding it like a bat. _Protect me, God, _she prayed._

_She twisted the knob and threw the door open. Her eyes widened and the guitar slipped out of her hands, clattering to the floor._

_And she screamed as loudly as her lungs allowed._

Utau stood in the kitchen singing one of her favorite songs. She reached for two Coke cans, opening them simultaneously. Taking one in each hand, she began pouring them into the cups full of ice she had prepared.

A scream echoed through the house.

Utau jolted. "Oh, no," Utau whispered. "Amu."

She dropped the two Coke cans and ran for her friend, not even acknowleding the abandoned Cokes which were spilling the rest of their contents on the counter and floor, slowly rolling back and forth.

Utau sprinted up the stairs, not knowing what to expect. Why had Amu gone upstairs? Had she heard something up there? Was there a thief in the house? Or worse. Amu was a pretty young girl and some criminals liked that. Hard, cold fear settled in her chest. What if it was a-?

When she reached the second floor, her eyes flitted to Amu, leaning against the wall. Her golden eyes were wide and her face was-

... Red?

Utau knit her eyebrows. _What the heck?_

"What are you doing here?" Amu said warily, flustered.

"This is my house," a deep voice answered. Excitement and anger built up in Utau's chest. She stomped into her brother's room.

"Ikuto," Utau growled. "I'm going to _kill _you." She then noticed why Amu was blushing. She must've walked in on him when he was changing because he was shirtless. This, of course, didn't affect Utau because Ikuto was her brother. Heck, she'd seen him in only a towel before. A year ago, Utau would have tackled her brother and try to kiss him. Passionately. Now she had no such desire; in fact, she couldn't believe that at one point she'd even felt that way.

Utau stormed toward her brother, furious. She reached out to try and hit him, but he easily dodged every time. "I can't believe you!" Utau ranted. "After all this time that you've disappeared, you think you can just show up _through a window _and say that this is your house? You selfish, arrogant, moronic-"

"I missed you, too," Ikuto said, smirking.

Utau suddenly stopped her assault as the anger drained out of her body. Unexpected tears sprung to her eyes. Without warning, the blond young woman wrapped her arms around her brother and held him tightly. "You're the worst excuse for a brother ever!" she cried.

Ikuto smiled-not smirked. He _smiled. _The teenager placed his hand on his little sister's head gently. "I know."

They stood there in silence for a moment, the only sound being Utau's sniffles. "Uh... Guys?"

Suddenly, Utau and Ikuto remembered that they weren't alone.

"Can you please put a shirt on?" Amu asked, blushing. Utau giggled. Ikuto's smirk returned.

"But why, Amu? I'm perfectly fine. You don't need to worry about me getting sick."

"I'm not worried about you! Do you realize how embarrassing not wearing a shirt is for the people around you?"

"Amu. Utau and I obviously have no problem with it. Why, were you having dirty thoughts about me?"

"Th-that's not it!"

"You're making me blush, Amu. Such a perverted girl."

"Y-you're the p-pervert!"

"No, really, Ikuto. Put on a shirt. You shouldn't waltz around like that while there's other people around. It's weird."

Ikuto sighed over-dramatically. "Fine. I suppose I can put a shirt on. I was getting cold anyways." He reached into his closet and pulled out a navy blue tee that was just a bit deeper than his hair. He pulled it over his head, messing up his hair in the process. Amu's blush didn't recede.

Ikuto turned to the window and said casually, "I'm gonna take off. I just came to change. See ya." He was about to jump out the window when Utau grabbed his wrist with both hands.

"No!" she exclaimed. "Don't leave! Last time you left you didn't come back for three months! You can't leave yet." When Ikuto leaned away from her warily, Utau added, "Don't worry, this isn't some kind of weird brother-sister love thing. Now that I'm over it, it's actually really creepy. This is about you being my brother but not acting like one.

"You're never here," Utau continued. "If you're going to leave now, you have to promise me something." Ikuto tilted his head to the side. "You have to come visit _at least _once a week. And you can't stay for one minute and call it a visit. You have to stay for at least ten minutes."

Ikuto looked her in the eyes cautiously. His eyes softened and he sighed. "Fine. But I'm not going to see _that woman._"

Amu tilted her head to the side. _What woman?_

Utau stared at him. "You're going to have to see her some time. You can't just avoid her for the rest of your life."

"Oh, yes I can."

"You're acting like a five-year-old."

"I'll cancel our deal."

Utau was about to respond but stopped. She seemed to weigh her options. She scowled and said, "Fine."

Ikuto smirked. "I thought so. Now if you'll let me go, I've got work to do."

Utau released his wrist. Ikuto stepped onto the window pane before pausing. He turned and smirked. "See you next week, Utau. And I'll see you too, Amu." For some reason, this made Amu blush. She had no idea why.

Ikuto disappeared.

There was a moment of silence between the two girls. "We should go back downstairs," Utau said. Amu examined her friend's face but it was completely calm. As if nothing had ever happened. They left the room and went back to the living room. Utau's eyes widened. "Ah, crud! The Coke!" She hurried into the kitchen. Amu could hear her friend curse profusely.

Amu sat patiently, thinking. Normally she would help Utau automatically, but she was so busy pondering what had just occurred to even think of helping. The main point being the woman they were talking about. Who was this woman? Why was Ikuto so against her? He didn't seem like the type to hate someone easily, especially a woman. So what could this woman have possibly done to him? It must've been awful, for him to refuse to even see her.

Utau walked back into the living room with two new Cokes. "Here we go," she said, giving one cup to Amu. "Sorry, I had to clean up the Coke that got spilled."

"No, it's perfectly fine," Amu said distantly. "Thank you."

Utau nodded. "No problem."

There was another stretch of silence. Finally, Amu couldn't hold onto her curiosity anymore. She just hoped she wasn't stepping on any toes. "Utau, who was that woman that you and Ikuto were talking about?"

Utau didn't answer for a moment. She simply stared at Amu. Amu shook her head. "No, never mind, you don't have to answer. It was a bad question."

"The woman is Ikuto's and my mother."

Amu glanced back at Utau. The older girl stared steadily back. "Our dad left when we were younger. Ikuto was probably nine, maybe ten. And I was seven. I was so young that I didn't really understand what that meant. I knew that he was gone, but it was almost like I couldn't make the connection that he wasn't coming back. I always thought, 'Is Daddy going to come back today?' Of course, he never did. But Ikuto was always mature for his age. He knew. I truly knew. Dad wasn't coming back. He was gone."

Amu was about to ask why Ikuto hated his mother if his father was the one who left, but decided against it. Utau continued talking.

"Ikuto had always been partial to our dad. It wasn't like he disliked our mom. He just liked dad more. So when he left, Ikuto couldn't take it. He was angry for the longest time-a year, at least. And then... Our mom got married."

Amu's heart went out to Ikuto. She couldn't even imagine what that would be like. She tried to think of what life would be like without her dad and with a new man to replace him. She couldn't do it.

"That already made Ikuto more upset than before. But what was worse was that our mom hadn't even married out of love. She couldn't make enough money to take care of the three of us. So she had to marry a man who had money. Kazuomi." Amu flinced. The way Utau said his name was chilling. "Kazuomi ignored Ikuto and I until he needed us. And Ikuto... Collapsed. Not physically. Emotionally. It's like he just couldn't take any more. So he ran away.

"I didn't see him again until seven months later. He was sitting in a tree in the park. I started crying. I was so _happy. _My brother was back. I called out to him. And he looked at me. _He looked at me. _And then he just... Left. He left me alone. And he didn't come back.

"I saw him around town occasionally after that. But I never called him again. I never cried over him anymore. I treated him like he was some other random person on the street. But every time... Every time I though-no, I _hoped _that maybe... Just maybe... One of those times he would call out to _me _and apologize... Ask to be a better brother, or something cheesy like that." Utau laughed quietly. "But he never did. And I never cried or got upset. I acted like I didn't know him. When I saw him today, I just... Lost it. I couldn't take it anymore. I was _furious. _And I missed him. And I was just so happy... And so angry..."

Amu place a hand on Utau's lap. "Hey, you know you don't have to do this. I just wanted to know. If you can't take it or you don't want to, just stop. I don't need to know."

Utau shook her head. "No, I'm fine. The last time I saw Ikuto was three months ago. He'd been hurt. I didn't know what he'd done to himself. But I'd told myself so long ago that I would forget him, treat him like he treated me... So I left him alone, injured. When I got home that day... That's when I knew. I needed to join the Church. It had gone too far. So, here I am."

Amu sat frozen for a moment. "Oh, Utau," she said sympathetically. "I'm so sorry. Come here." Amu opened her arms wide and embraced the other girl. She felt something wet seep through her shirt, but she heard nothing. Utau hugged her tightly. Amu rubbed small circles on her back.

"You know what, Utau?" Amu asked. "I still can't believe that he's your brother."

Utau choked out a laugh. "It is pretty hard to believe, isn't it?"

For no reason at all, the suddenly burst out into uncontrollable laughter. Maybe because of the ridiculousness of the whole situation they were.

The atmosphere relaxed once again and the girls continued talking as normal.

* * *

_The white mask. That was all that Daiki Kawa could see. It practically glowed in the moonlight. He couldn't see any features. Couldn't see the attacker's hair. Couldn't see his eyes. If it was a he. Daiki couldn't see. All that he knew was that white mask and the pain. Oh, the pain. Everything hurt. _

_"Are you listening to me, Daiki Kawa?" The voice of the assaulter. He'd heard it a few times already. But he hadn't really paid any mind to the actual words. "If you don't answer me I'll have to do something else that you won't like." _

_Daiki groaned. "I... I'm listening."_

_"Daiki Kawa," the man in the white mask said. "Grand theft auto, robbing banks, raiding homes and taking what you please. And assaulting men, women, and children while you were at it. Now, tell me. Do you think that would be greed, pride, or envy? Maybe all of the above."_

_Daiki couldn't think. The attacker's words barely registered. He almost couldn't hear him. It took all Daiki had to so much as lift a finger. But somehow, he knew he wouldn't die. He should've, what with all the violence the attacker was using. But something just wasn't right. This man wasn't a killer. He didn't know how he knew. He just did. _

_"Daiki..." The assaulter said. "I asked you a question."_

_"Y... You..." Daiki tried to muster up some strength to say what he wanted to say. "You can't... kill me."_

_The man in the mask kicked Daiki's side. "Is that so? Do you want to test that theory? Let me find my knife."_

_Daiki squeezed his eyes shut. Well, he could always hope that it would be quick._

_Breath brushed on his ear. He would've shivered if he could have. The voice whispered something in his ear. Daiki's eyes widened. _What _did he say?_

_Daiki blacked out._

_O God, in the beginning You brought together man and woman in holy marriage  
that they might share Your work of creation and bring enriching life to one another.  
We commend to Your constant care the homes where Your people dwell.  
Knit together in growing affection those who have been made one flesh  
so that their love may never fail.  
Turn the hearts of parents to their children and children to their parents.  
Take away the roots of bitterness, vanity, and self-seeking that bring dissension  
where family peace should rain.  
Inspire them, rather, with loyalty, faith, and sacrifice  
__that in all the changes and circumstances of life  
they may stand strongly together in mutual service and love.  
We ask this through Jesus Christ, our Lord,  
Who grew within the family of Nazareth,  
Who loved the Church as his beloved spouse,  
and gave Himself up for her.  
Amen._

**Okay! Finished! Jeez. Two chapters in two days? I really AM looking forward to this chapter. O.O I just hope it'll be as fun to read as it will be to write. (Layla: Probably not. You're probably gonna end up making it REEEEAAAALLLYYY boring. Me: You're so mean to me. I shun you! Layla: ... You can't shun me. That's not the way it works. Now say goodbye to the people who are only reading your story because it's awful and feel sorry for you. Me: Do you see how mean she is to me? *sighs*) So rate, review, fave, follow... All loved! :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey, peoples... :( (Layla: Aww, look at the little frowny face. XP Ivory: Layla, stop. Layla: ? Lena: Whiteowl's actually really upset. Layla: *looks at Whiteowl* Jeez, you're right. I wonder what's wrong. Lena: I heard her mumbling something about "only nine reviews" earlier. She's probably sad that her first fanfic actually did way better than this one. Even though she kinda expected people would just be like "Wait, what the heck? What kinda sick writer writes something like this?" Layla and Ivory: O.O How do you know all this? Lena: I have my ways. 8) Layla and Ivory: O.O Lena: Well, since Whiteowl isn't gonna say it, hope you guys enjoy the story. *glances at Whiteowl* *smiles* Jeez, it's getting really hot in here. Where's Ikuto so he can help me get undre-? Whiteowl: NOOOOOOOOOOO! LENA! Lena: *smiles* Heh. I knew that would work. :) Ivory: By the way, in this chapter, Kiyomi(you'll see her name) uses the less tactful way to say "sexually assault". If you don't like the word, feel free to skip over the section she's in. It'll be in all italics. Don't complain if you read it and be like, "I didn't want to read that!" I don't mean to sound rude, but I told you and either you didn't listen or you didn't read the author's note. Not my problem. Me: Ivory! So rude! *goes back into depression corner* Ivory: Tch. Well, you heard me. So continue. Hope you like it!)**

**To Bear Love's Cross**

**Chapter 6**

Amu strolled back inside her house at seven o' clock sharp, just as she'd promised her parents.

"AMU-CHAN!" Amu's father all but tackled her in a hug. "I MISSED YOOOOOUUUUU!" he yelled, tears streaming down his face. Amu sweat-dropped. _Fourth Commandment, Amu. Honor your father and mother. _

"I know, Papa. I missed you too. But I had to talk to Utau about fund raisers. I think we have some good ideas. It'll be really fun."

Papa sniffled, still crying. "Don't do anything with any BOYS, Amu-chan! I WILL NOT ALLOW IT!"

Sweat-drop. "Of course not, Papa. I have to go upstairs so I can plan some things out. We're starting our first fund raiser tomorrow. I think it's going to work out really well!" As Amu ran up the stairs to her room, she could hear her dad cry out, "NO BOYS!"

Amu tried to restrain herself from rolling her eyes.

Amu shuffled around her room, looking for paper and-if she was lucky-a clipboard. It turned out that today was her lucky day, apparently. A pink, semi-see through clipboard had appeared from somewhere out of her closet. She attached a few sheets of looseleaf to the board and bit the half-sharpened pencil she'd found on her desk. So Utau and Amu had already decided that they would start asking for orders tomorrow. They'd also agreed on what they would sell: brownies, sugar cookies, chocolate chip cookies, lemon squares, home-made rice crispy treats, and if Amu could manage it, taffy. She'd made it once before, but she wasn't very confident in her ability to make it again.

Amu sighed. This was going to be a lot of work. She began drawing charts with the names of the sweets on the looseleaf. She kept the farthest vertical column blank. That would be where she wrote the names of whoever ordered something. She did this on three pages, considering that each page had 32 lines. She'd added one more than she thought she'd need, just in case. That was enough space to fit 96 names.

Staring at the blank sheets of paper, she felt something cold and hard settle in her stomach. She doubted that this bake sale alone would be enough to cover the thousand dollar requirement. And none of them had even begun wondering how they were going to pull off the hundred volunteers. They were going to put up that sign on the church bulletin, but that probably wouldn't get one hundred people to help. In fact, whatever way she looked at it, the odds of them meeting the requirements were near impossible. So why were they trying so hard?

Suddenly, a smile lit up her face. Because it would be worth it. Sure, it would be a lot of work. But it would be worth it to see the smiles on everyone's faces, as cheesy as that sounds. It wasn't like the youth group held these events simply to recruit more members. It existed for the well-being of the church community, after all. More people joining was just a positive side effect.

Amu placed the clipboard on her backpack, clipping the pencil to it. She picked up the house phone and called Kairi and Nagi, telling them about the plan. They both agreed to ask around their schools-Kairi more reluctantly than Nagi-and wished Amu the best of luck. After she made sure that all was in its place, she turned off her bedroom light and hopped into her bed.

She fell asleep smiling.

* * *

_Kiyomi Watanabe was on the ground, her heavily mascara-ed eyes looking out of the corner of her eyes toward the masked man standing above her. The Phantom. She'd heard about him. How he attacked chronic criminals who were never convicted. He'd attacked someone she knew. When she'd seen the aftermath, he'd been a wreck. He'd had casts everywhere. There wasn't a spot on his body that wasn't hurt. _

_But he didn't die. No one who he attacked ever died. But everyone knew why that was. The Phantom always left his victims in such awful condition that he probably assumed that they would die. Strange, though, that he-she?-never seemed to learn that he just wasn't going far enough to kill anyone. Not that anyone could complain. They survived, after all; but no one who was attacked ever committed another crime, that's for sure._

_He was hard core predator. A killer that always fell just short of his mark. A vicious attacker._

_But why did it seem that every time the Phantom went to attack Kiyomi, he seemed to hesitate for a split second-no, a nanosecond?_

_He always followed through-landing another attack on her legs, on her torso, on her face. There was no place untouched. She half expected him to rape her and then kill her. If not the second, then most likely the first. But he never touched her like that. He attacked her multiple times in just about every place he could reach. But he never went for that part of her body. She was in extreme pain and wished that it would stop, but she counted her blessings that the punches and kicks were as far as he went._

_"Kiyomi Watanabe," the Phantom said coolly. "Multiple accounts of prostitution, theivery, public indecency... I could go on with the smaller things, but it's not worth my time." The Phantom raised his chin. "Now how is it that you managed to escape prosecution? Was there a healthy dosage of bribery mixed in there as well?"_

_Kiyomi's eyes teared up, but she refused to let them fall. "Hmph," the Phantom continued. "Strong girl. Not crying. Most girls-hell, most men would've broken down into tears and started begging at this point. I've always hated it when they did that. Like it would help. I can't very well just _stop. _It's not that easy. Not that you care, though. Well, I suppose my work here is done." _

_The Phantom leaned down, his lips almost touching Kiyomi's ear. She shivered. Not fully badly, either. He was right; she could've been convicted for many counts of prostitution if it weren't for the bribery. After as much as she'd done, she'd met many people-not just men, either-who had tendencies to be rough or even violent. After a few times she'd learned to be okay with it, and eventually enjoy it. Of course, she charged those people extra. So the Phantom's proximity and the pain was mimicing one of those times. Her breathing sped up._

_And then it stopped when his words registered in her mind. _

_She didn't move. Not because of the pain. Not when the Phantom left. Not for the hour afterward. Not until the sun began to rise. Then she dragged herself to her feet, but had to fall back on the wall and sit against it, unable to bear her weight. She painfully reached into her shorts pocket and turned on her phone. She shakily called her friend who'd been attacked before her. He squawked like a bird and yelled into the phone that he'd be there soon. She stared off into the sunrise, thinking._

_The Phantom's words still echoed in her mind when her friend picked her up and brought her to a criminal's hospital._

* * *

Amu awoke in the morning, rested, refreshed, and ready for the day to come. She dressed herself in her uniform, adding her own personal touches. A wide smile adorned her face. Today was the day that they would get started taking orders. She was excited. They were starting on their way to the thousand dollars.

Amu picked up her messenger bag and the clipboard with the charts on it and called to her parents a quick goodbye. She was still smiling. _This is going to be a good day._

* * *

She'd said that today would be a good day. She'd thought that she'd fill up at least one sheet of orders.

And then... She didn't.

She was Amu, cool 'n spicy. No one approached her. When she walked over to people, they would walk away. She only had one young boy who ordered from her. His name was Seiichiro Suzuki and he seemed so excited to order from her. He was about to give her note of some kind but then the bell rang and she had to run to class without getting the envelope. She didn't know that Seiichiro stood in the same place for five minutes after she left.

As soon as she walked into homeroom before luch, she sighed and plopped down into her seat. A cloud of depression floated above her head. Tadase noticed and walked over to Amu. "Amu-chan, what's wrong?"

Amu sighed miserably and said, "We've been here for four hours already and I have one order. We'll never reach our goal at this rate." Tadase looked at Amu sadly, hating how she was depressed. He lit up. This was a good opportunity to make a good impression. This could work.

Tadase said to Amu louder than necessary, "Oh, Amu, I love your cookies! They're so fantastic! You're really good at baking!"

Amu tilted her head to the side. She wasn't good at making cookies. The only cookies that she'd ever made were actually the leftover dough for a tart and she'd had Nadeshiko's help on those. Why would Tadase say something like that? He knew that those weren't cookies. So what was he doing, saying that-?

All of the girls in the classroom-a grand total of ten girls-charged over to Amu, each ordering five things from her. Amu tried to write all of them down as quickly as she possibly could. This was amazing! All of these girls were actually asking for things from her! She let a smile cross her face as she wrote them down. That was nice of Tadase. She knew that without him these girls would've completely ignored her.

When she was finished writing everything down, her hand was cramping up. The lunch bell rang and Amu ran to the other of the campus where the high school was. Neither school when they were originally made had enough money to buy land for themselves so they'd agreed to both put in money so they could buy the land. They'd shared it ever since.

She knew that they would be in luch as well and Amu knew exactly where Utau would be. She'd visited her during lunch before. She walked into the cafeteria, feeling unbelievably short in comparison to all of the high schoolers who were much taller than her. She finally reached Utau's table and tapped on her shoulder. Utau turned to her.

"Any luck?" Amu asked. Utau lifted up her clipboard and Amu saw that she'd only gotten four people. Amu sighed. Getting the ten girls in homeroom had been nice, but they'd need more than that if they wanted to reach their goal. "Well, we're only halfway through the day. Maybe we'll get some more people before the day's over. And if we have to, we can always extend our order time into tomorrow." Utau looked at me and smiled, but it was obvious that she was doubtful.

Suddenly, Amy felt like there was a pair of eyes burning into the back of her skull. Utau's eyes widened and she muttered, "No. Just_ no._"

Someone called out, "Hey, pinky!"

Amu's eyes widened as well. She recognized that voice. She turned slowly until she saw who had called her "pinky".

Ikuto Tsukiyomi was sitting on a table leaning back on his elbows, smirking. Amy walked over sluggishly, knowing that in his school where he was older than her she couldn't ignore him like she could if they were outside. The cafeteria went silent and watched what was happening.

Amu's heart thumped. This was a pretty big high school. There were eight hundred plus students in this school. The majority of them were in this cafeteria. Half of their eyes were on her. Amu's eyes didn't leave Ikuto. And what was with him calling her "pinky"? They'd seen each other two times already and both times he'd said her name easily, not even pausing. So why couldn't he remember now? And what was with him calling her out like this? And why on God's green earth was everyone so interested in this? No one was talking anymore.

Finally, Amu reached Ikuto who was still sitting on the table, but he wasn't leaning back anymore. Now he was holding his head in one hand, leaning forward. He still smirked.

"Yes, sempai?" She had to hold back a disgusted face at that honorific. But she was in his school and he was older than her. She had to call him that. Well, she could call him Ikuto but that would be explosive at this point.

Ikuto acted completely normal, but he was speaking just slightly louder than usual, and with the acoustics in the cafeteria everyone could hear him. "The name's Amu, right? Call me Ikuto-sempai."

Amu bit her tongue. _His school, Amu. His_ high _school_. "Yes, I'm Amu. And of course, Ikuto-sempai." Suddenly Utau walked up behind Amu. She didn't even have to look at her to know that she was glaring at her brother. Ikuto appeared to be completely unaffected.

"I heard that you were selling sweets at the elementary school." He acted as if he hadn't known. _Well, maybe he didn't. It's not like_ _Utau and I had told him. Who knows how he found out?_

"Yes, that's true. I was working with-" Utau pinched my arm and Amu winced. The message was obvious: _Don't say it's me. Not right now._ "-someone else."

Ikuto leaned back a little and looked up at the ceiling. "You know, I would love to buy something from you, but I don't have any money with me."

Amu blinked. Did he call her over just to say that he couldn't buy anything?

Chairs screeched across the tile floor and suddenly Utau and Amu were mobbed by hundreds of girls. It was almost every girl in the cafeteria. They were all screaming that they wanted five of everything. Some girls even cried out that they wanted ten of everything. One girl said that she wanted twenty of everything. Amu and Utau feverishly wrote the names and orders down. Amu ran out of paper and Utau gave her ten extra sheets she'd made. Amu didn't even ask why she'd thought she'd need that many. The high school did have more than eight hundred students. The elementary school only had about three hundred.

Twenty minutes later, the girls had all dispersed. Hair had fallen out of Utau's pigtails and into her face. Amu's hair was in much the same state. Amu turned to Ikuto to talk to him about if he'd done that on purpose or not but she saw that he wasn't there any more. She blew her hair out of her face, only to have it fall back.

It was going to take days to make all of this.

* * *

Tadase watched Amu being surrounded by girls and saw her and Utau writing down names and requests down as quickly as they possibly could. His stomach dropped. He'd gotten ten. Ten girls. That had seemed like a lot at the time, but now...

He'd come here to catch up to Amu. He'd wanted to talk to her, see how she acted around him after what he'd done. Wanted to see if she liked him any more. But then she'd been called out by that tall blue-haired guy. Now he felt sick. Ten girls. Ten girls versus at least four hundred. Who _was _this guy?

A few minutes after the mob had surrounded Amu and Utau, the blue-haired guy started walking toward the exit of the cafeteria-exactly where Tadase was standing now. Seeing his face now, Tadase saw that he wasn't any freshman. No, he must've been a junior, if not a senior. He walked with a specific kind of confident swagger. **(A/N: Yes, I just said swagger, but I'm using the dictionary definition, so don't give me anything like "OMG YOU USED SWAGGER WHY WOULD YOU DO SUCH A THING!" If you do I'll completely ignore it.) **Tadase had to admitreluctantly, he was impressed.

Suddenly, the teenager spotted Tadase and a smirk crossed his face. When he was about to walk out the door, he stopped in front of Tadase and leaned over a little bit. "So," he said, his voice smooth and deep. Completely unlike Tadase's high-pitched one. "You're one of Amu's friends?" Tadase noticed the familiarity that the teen talked about Amu with. A spark of anger flashed in his stomach but he pressed it down. Now was not the time. He wondered briefly how he knew that the teen knew he was a friend of Amu's then realized what a stupid question that was. Why would there be two elementary school kids in the same high school cafeteria if they didn't know each other?

"Yes, I'm one of Amu's friends. One of her closest friends." Tadase said it shortly. His pinkish eyes showed a "back off" signal.

The teenager laughed. "Ooh, you've got a little bite to you. Well, let me tell you something." The teenager placed one of his hands on Tadase's head. He leaned over until he was almost face-to-face with Tadase, but he stayed just a bit above him. "From the look on your face, I'm confident that you tried to help her out. Let me guess. You were in homeroom and you said something like "Her sweets are really good" and a few girls in the classroom came." Tadase said nothing. The teen laughed. "You've got a lot to learn.

"That's pretty good for your age. But remember this: Some girls love a little kiddy king like you, but all girls love a big bad boy like me. You're gonna have to do better than that if you wanna get Amu. I'm not losing to a little prince." The young man ruffled Tadase's hair and leaned up, walking away. He stopped for a moment and said, as if as an afterthought, "Oh, and by the way, my name's Ikuto. Remember that. You're going to be hearing it a lot from now on." He continued strolling down the hallway.

When Ikuto was out of eyesight, Tadase formed a fist with his hand.

_Ikuto, _Tadase thought. _I won't lose to you._

_Mother of Perpetual Help, today we face so many difficulties. Your picture tells us so much about you. It reminds us to reach out and help those in need. Help us understand that our lives belong to others as much as they belong to us._

Mary, Model of Christian love, we know we cannot heal every ill or solve every problem. But with God's grace, we intend to do what we can. May we be true witnesses to the world that love for one another really matters. May our daily actions proclaim how fully our lives are modeled after yours, Mother of Perpetual Help.

_Amen._

**Dun dun DUN! Lol I'm in a much better mood now. I don't know if it was fun to read(I hope it was) but it was SO MUCH FUN to write it. I was looking forward to this chapter. XD XD XD (Lena: Ooh, Ikuto won't lose to Tadase? Ooh, I bet one night he's gonna take Amu to his house and he's gonna show her his bedroom and then- Me: LENA, STOP RIGHT THERE! Lena: *ignoring WhiteOwl* Oh, wait, now that I think about it, they might not even make it there. They might just get to the couch and- Me: LENA, I WILL TAKE AWAY YOUR-your... Um... Lena: *smiling* I love how you can't think of anything to take away from me. Me: *sighs* If you're gonna talk like that, just don't do it in front of other people.) Anyways, in reference to the last part, NO, Ikuto does NOT love Amu... Yet. He just thought it would be funny to make Tadase worry about competition that wasn't there. Plus I just really wanted to write that. XD So what did you think? Good, bad? Please review! It makes me sad when I don't hear back from people... I automatically assume that it's terrible and then I get really depressed. *gasps* Oh my goodness, wouldn't it be fantastic if someone drew a picture of Ikuto and Tadase and they each had their own half of the page and they were both sitting in thrones? And Ikuto would just be lounging sideways on it with his crown tilted and Tadase would be sitting all proper and stuff... Lol too bad I suck at drawing. XP**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey, peoples! *stares at reviews* Wow. That's... a lot of reviews for an hour. There were like, six people who reviewed this story within an hour or two of it being posted. (Layla: What, so first you're depressed that there weren't a lot of people reviewing and now it's too much? Jeez. Make up your mind. Me: No, it's not that. It's great getting lots of reviews. It's just... Wow. Didn't expect that.) Okay. So since you guys have all been so lovely, I've decided that I'm gonna try and get this up fast. Hope that it works. XP So hope you like it!**

**To Bear Love's Cross**

**Chapter 7**

After all of the high school girls who had mobbed Utau and Amu left, the two said girls had collapsed on the table Ikuto had been sitting on. Their hands were cramping up and neither of them could catch their breath. About five minutes later when they'd managed to get back to normal, Amu sat up and flipped through the pages that had all been filled up. She counted eleven and a half.

"Utau," Amu asked slowly, "How many pages do you have."

Utau groaned. "I don't even want to _think _about those pages for the next week." But she obligingly sat up and counted hers. "Eight. I probably got less than you because my oh-so-lovely brother called you out and not me."

Amu's heart lifted. "Utau, do you realize how much money this can make us? This will probably be all that it takes to reach our thousand dollar goal."

Utau's face lit up. "This won't just be enough. This will be _more _than enough! Think about it. How many lines were on each page?"

Amu's eyes glowed. "There were thirty-two on each page. So eight times thirty two equals two hundred and fifty-six-"

"And eleven and a half time thirty-two is three hundred and sixty-eight, and if you add those together you get-"

"Six hundred and twenty-four." All of the breath rushed out of Amu's lungs.

"And all of them ordered about five things apiece. Three thousand and twenty. We just sold three thousand and twenty products. Even after you subtract whatever the cost to make them will be, we have way more than one thousand."

The two girls smiled giddily and laughed. This was great! They would be able to pull off the carnival now! Neither one of them had to do the exact math to how much the ingredients would cost and subtract the amount they would make. It would cost way less than the overall.

"Amu... We did it, didn't we? We got the money." Amu grinned widely and nodded. There was a brief pause and they both squealed, hugging each other.

Suddenly, the school bell rang. Amu sprung up. "I have to get back to school!" As she ran away, she screamed, "Bye, Utau!" The older girl smiled and waved at her retreating back. When the girl disappeared, Utau sighed. _This is going to be so much work... _

Meanwhile, Amu had spotted Tadase leaning against the wall right outside the cafeteria. "Tadase!" Amu exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

_Some girls love a little kiddy king like you, but all girls love a big bad boy like me. _Tadase put a hand behind his back and formed it into a fist. _Ikuto. _Tadase shook his head. No, he had to get him out of his head. _I mean, there's no way that he likes Amu. He's probably seventeen at the youngest. Amu's only twelve. There's no way he could feel about her like that. _Tadase tensed. _Is there?_

"Tadase?" The blonde boy jumped. "Are you okay, Tadase?"

He laughed nervously. "Of course I'm okay! Why do you ask? Oh! You asked why I'm here. It's just that I couldn't find you and I was worried about where you were. Wouldn't want you to be getting into any kind of trouble, would we?" He laughed again. Amu paused before shrugging. Tadase breathed out a sigh of relief. Amu apparently didn't notice it because she showed no expression.

Amu grabbed Tadase's wrist. "Come on! We have to run or we're going to be late for class!" The world slowed down around Tadase as he stared at Amu's hand around his wrist. Amu was touching him. Almost holding his hand. Just a slight adjustment and they'd be holding hands. How hard would it be to do that? And that would certainly show _Ikuto _what he thought about his little contest. Just a little bit farther-

_No! _Tadase scolded himself. _That's ridiculous! And Amu needs her space. Everyone deserves their own space. _Tadase couldn't believe the thought had even crossed his mind. He ran after Amu, ignoring the thoughts he'd had before. How ridiculous could he get?

He didn't know it yet, but he could become quite ridiculous under the right-or wrong-circumstances.

* * *

Ikuto looked out the window of his classroom while his teacher lectured about the history of Japan.

He hated teachers when they were lecturing; they would always see him looking out the window and would get upset with him, yelling that he never listened to what they were saying and that it was disrespectful of him to completely ignore those older than him. He didn't understand why they didn't stop; he aced almost all of his tests-when he took them, that is. He wasn't here most of the time. He only showed up just as many days as necessary to pass the grade. He tended to skip days at a time, doing as he pleased.

It wasn't just the teachers though. For entire class periods he could see out of his peripheral vision the girls peeking quick glances at him, always brushing their hair out of their face, or make a face that was meant to be seductive, or something of the sort; it was as if they thought that making looks like that would attract him, or something of that sort. He ignored the glances. He had no use for anything like that.

He smirked. He had no use for it _before. _Today was a different story. He'd never really done anything like what he did before, but he'd always known how to. He'd been happy to do it today. Helping Amu out like that had made him really happy. He didn't understand why; they'd only seen each other two times. He didn't feel like that for most people he'd known his entire life. It was probably the faces that she'd make. The surprised looks, the blushing and embarrassed looks, the happy looks. And the his favorite. Her smiling face.

"Ikuto!"

He glanced at the teacher out of the corner of his eye. "Yes, sensei?" The word tasted bad in his mouth; he hardly considered this teacher a teacher.

"Just because you get good grades in this class doesn't give you permission to ignore me altogether! If you keep this up then you'll fail!"

Ikuto sighed. "Sensei, if I may say so, I learn better when I only half-focus. When I give my full-on attention to something, I start thinking about other things or get distracted. And then I manage to completely tune the teacher out." Ikuto smirked. "And we wouldn't want that, would we?"

The teacher looked like he would've growled but he restrained himself. "Fine. Do as you wish. But one of these days you'll start getting bad grades and then you'll be sorry."

Ikuto smirked wider. "I'll be waiting."

The teacher glared at him for one more moment before continuing with his lecture. Ikuto turned back to the window. He was surprised at himself. Normally he would act weary about being called back and would just say, "Yes, sensei." But for some reason today he'd gone farther than normal. He wondered why. Maybe it was because he was distracted. More so than usual, that is. He didn't know why.

Ikuto shook his head. It didn't really matter. He would still get an A on the test. He always did. Who really cared why he was distracted?

But a voice in the back of his mind still held on to the matter and reminded him distantly of it for the rest of the day.

* * *

Amu and Utau met up after school that day. They were discussing when they would meet up to make the baked goods.

"We could start tomorrow. We can work for a while and try to get as much done as possible. Then we can work every other day."

"Yeah, but if we do that, the ones we make tomorrow will get stale. Then they'd be paying more than what the quality would offer."

"Yeah... We could start tonight and get a lot done. Then we could... Um..."

"How about we get the longer-lasting things done tonight? Like the lemon squares and the taffy. We can just keep those in the refrigerator and they'll be good for whenever we finish everything else."

"But what refrigerator? There's not enough room in both our refrigerators _combined _to hold all of it."

"Hmm..." Amu thought. "Oh! Don't they have one at the youth center? A really big one that's big enough to hold all of it?"

Utau paused before slowly smiling. "Yep. So we've got it. We can do it. Hey, let's head over there now so we can get started. They have all the stuff we need there. I brought it over before because there wasn't enough room in our house, so I left it over there. We can begin tonight!"

Amu laughed. "Let's go!" Since neither of them had anyone to pick them up, the two of them ran to the center.

When they arrived, Sanjo-san was there, doing paperwork for the youth group. Somehow, she seemed disturbed about something. Maybe it was the way she appeared to be focusing much harder than necessary on the papers.

Amu smiled. _It'll make her so happy to hear that we already have the thousand dollars. Especially since we have surplus. _Amu skipped up to Sanjo-san, grinning widely. "Sanjou-san!"

The woman jumped and she looked up at Amu. "Oh... Amu. What are you doing here?"

Amu's grin widened. "We passed the thousand dollar mark."

Sanjo-san's eyes widened. "You _what?_"

Amu nodded. "Yep. We probably have at least two thousand dollars. Isn't this awesome?"

Sanjo-san smiled before her happy expression faded. "We can't."

Amu blinked. Aimultaneously, Amu and Utau said, "What?" Utau walked up beside Amu, not comprehending.

Sanjo-san sighed. "We can do the carnival. We don't have the money."

"What do you mean?" Utau exclaimed. "We just said we have the money. We have more than the money you said we needed. We definitely have-"

"I only required that _you _make one thousand dollars. That's not enough to hold the carnival you all are thinking of. The Church usually pays for the rest. But we're a small church, and we don't have the money to pay for something like this. I asked the board if directors, but they said no."

There was silence. Then Amu asked the forbidden question: "How much money do we need to pull it off?"

Sanjo-san made a face like she'd really wished Amu hadn't asked. She sighed regretfully before saying the number.

"At least ten thousand dollars."

_Dear Lord, _  
_Help me find firm ground in this shaky economy._  
_As I seek work and assistance, _  
_Give me strength not to be anxious when I seem to be going nowhere;_  
_Give me patience not to despair when things look bleak;_  
_Give me serenity to know you are here with me, helping me to carry my crosses each day;_  
_So that I may do Your will, _  
_For the salvation of souls_  
_And my Eternal Life.  
Amen._

**_Uh oh! What shall the_y do now? Ten thousand dollars? Oh no! (Layla: What's with the way you're talking? You never talk like that. Me: I just feel like it. It's fun. :) Lol this is fun.) I'm sorry if this chapter is kinda boring... I just needed a chapter to go between this one and the next one cuz having chapter six and the next chapter one right after the other just didn't make any sense. It really cramped time down and it wasn't realistic at all. As realistic as this story can be, that is. XP So what do you guys think? Good, bad? Review, fave, follow, please! :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey, guys! Wow. Suddenly I have twenty reviews. Thanks, peoples! XD Um... I can't really come up with anything to say. :) So onto the story then! Since that's what you guys came here to read and not the author's note. XP**

**To Bear Love's Cross**

**Chapter 8**

_"How much money do we need to pull it off?" _

_Sanjo-san made a face like she'd really wished Amu hadn't asked. She sighed regretfully before saying the number._

_"At least ten thousand dollars."_

Utau stared, not comprehending. Amu felt light-headed, as if she was on the brink of passing out. "Ten... Thousand..." Amu mumbled, dazed. Utau said nothing. "This is a dream, isn't it?" Amu said. "It _has _to be. It can't be real. After all the work we did it all just turns up to _nothing_?"

Sanjo-san glanced at Amu sympathetically before looking down at the papers in front of her, not reading them.

"But this can't happen!" Amu exclaimed. "We worked so hard and we earned so much! We can't just lose this... just like that!"

"Amu, please calm down," Sanjo-san soothed. "I know how you feel about this, and I felt the same way when I first heard it. But these kinds of things happen in life sometimes and we just have to-"

"No!" Amu exclaimed. She had completely forgotten all sense of manners in her anger. "We don't have to get over it! We don't have to drop it and bow down like this! Sanjo-san, please understand!"

"Amu, _you_ need to understand that we are a small church with limited funds. We can't go spending money on everything. This is just one thing that we can't do. Ten thousand dollars is too much for our church to pay for. We can't afford it."

"Yes, but with others help we can."

Amu and Sanjo-san turned to Utau. Her face was a steely mask of determination. "Maybe we can't pay for it by ourselves, but if we keep holding fundraisers, then we'll get there eventually. Right?"

Amu and Sanjo-san simply stared at her as the idea she'd suggested sunk in. Ten thousand dollars... Could they really pull it off? That was a lot of money. But they had made two thousand thus far.

"How can you be so confident about something like this?" Amu asked, amazed at the blonde girl's determination. "How can you just not give up?"

Utau glanced at Amu and smiled. "Well, when I'm older-actually, not when I'm older. As soon as possible, I want to be able to share my voice with the rest of the world. But there's going to be a lot of struggling to get to where I want to be. How can I give up just like that? What kind of rising star does that?" Utau stuck her tongue out at the two others.

Slowly, a smile crawled onto Amu's face. "Ten thousand dollars, huh?"

Snajo-san's eyes widened. "Girls, I know you really want to do this, but it's just not possible-"

"Sanjo-san, if we do this, the church doesn't have to pay for it at all," Amu said, eyes glimmering. "We can do it! We already have two thousand dollars. That's already a fifth of what we need. Come on! Please?"

Sanjo-san stared at both of the girls in turn. She sighed. "I suppose that you can." The young girls squealed happily. "But!" The two turned back to her. "You have to have all the money within three months."

"What?!" the girls exclaimed.

"After that month we need to get started on our next activity. If you can't get it done by then, we'll be doing another picnic."

"Aw, not _another _one!" Utau groaned. "Okay, Amu, now we _have _to raise ten thousand dollars in three months. I am _not _doing another picnic. That was unbelievably boring. Not happening." Utau grabbed Amu's wrist and dragged her into the kitchen. "We're getting started on the baking, Sanjo-san! Try not to interrupt us! We need to do this fast."

The older woman watched their retreating backs. She smiled a small smile. "Those girls are going to do amazing things one day."

* * *

_Ryou Kurosawa leaned against a wall, bleeding, panting. _

_He hadn't started crying. Yet. He knew that he was going to. It was coming. Just a few more hits and he was done for. He would be reduced to begging for his life at that point. But at this point he was still clinging to the idea that the Phantom would just turn around and leave just as suddenly as he'd come. The odds were low, however. It was the Phantom; he wouldn't leave until Ryou was sobbing on the ground, unable to get back up._

_That's what he'd heard, at least._

_Ryou pulled a knife out of his pocket, moaning in pain. Even moving his arm that small distance nearly made him collapse. He stared at the Phantom who stalked toward him eerily. He was wearing all black, which made his white mask stand out even more against the darkness. _

_Ryou was trembling. He'd always wondered why so many people were being beat up so severely. No, not why; how. After all, everyone who'd been attacked was a criminal. All of them had been on their guard from the police or, more recently, the Phantom. So how was it possible that he managed to always hurt them so much? How hard could it possibly be to defend yourself against one guy?_

_Impossibly so, apparently._

_The Phantom kicked Ryou right in his stomach. Ryou keeled over, dry heaving. He dropped his knife and it scattered away from him. __The Phantom planted his foot in the middle of Ryou's back, flattening him effectively. The criminal banged his chin against the ground with such force he was surprised that his jaw wasn't broken. He tried to stand again, but the Phantom simply forced him back down._

_"Ryou Kurosawa," the Phantom said. The man in question shivered as best he could. The man's voice was as cold as ice down the back of his shirt. "Accused of embezzling, theft, kidnapping-you know, the girl from a year back. No one could find her. And no one ever did. So tell me, did you get bored of her and kill her? Or is she still trapped in some dark place where no one else can get to her aside from you? She's probably-oh, what, fourteen now? I'm pretty sure that pedophilia is against the law too."_

_"She loves me!"_

_"Try Stockholm Syndrome. Ever heard of it?"_

_Silence. And then Ryou slowly started to laugh. "Ha. Stockholm Syndrome. That's funny. You wouldn't know, of course-that love transcends the boundaries of age. And sometimes... Sometimes watching alone just isn't enough. And you just have to have them. Just because it's against the law doesn't mean it's not good. And by the way... She's not fourteen now. She's twelve."_

_The Phantom froze at that number. "Twelve?"_

_Ryou laughed a little before coughing. "Yep. Twelve years old now. And I've had her for two years. And she loves me just as much as I've always loved her. It took her about six months to come to terms with the fact that she loved me. For the first few months she would scream and cry that she wanted to go back to her family, her friends, her life-but then she finally realized that she needed me more than she needed them. That I'm all she needs. That I'm all she'll ever-"  
_

_The Phantom stomped on Ryou's head hard. Ryou felt his nose shatter into a million shards. He screamed and started crying, just like he new he would. "You make me sick. But as tempting as it is to kill you on the spot, I don't want to rack up a list of kills. Besides. That's too good for you. You're going to wish you'd never been born by the time that I'm finished with you. But before I do that, let me tell you something first."_

_He leaned over and whispered in Ryou's ear, "Unless you want me to pay you another visit, let the girl go and make like a dead man. Change your name, no more crimes, and stay low. Or you're going to regret it. Strongly."_

_And Ryou regretted every minute of his entire criminal life for the rest of the night._

* * *

Utau and Amu sat in Sanjo-san's car the morning after their baking spree, leaning on one another, their eyes heavy as weights.

The night before, they'd been unable to stop baking when they'd finished what they said they would. Somehow they just couldn't bring themselves to stop until they'd finished everything. Literally neither of them had gotten any sleep. And they'd made more than people had ordered too; they were going to set up a stand that afternoon where people could pick up what they'd asked for and if anyone else wanted something then they could buy it. They weren't getting their hopes up, but ten thousand dollars was a lot; they would take anything they could get.

"Amu..." Utau groaned. "I'm tired."

"I bet that I'm even more tired..."

"No you aren't. I'm _way _too tired for you to be more tired than me."

"No, I'm too tired for you to be more tired than me."

"Nuh uh."

"Uh huh."

"Nuh uh."

"Uh huh."

"Girls?" Sanjo-san asked. "Are you sure you're okay? We can always do this tomorrow, you know-"

"No!" both of the girls screamed at once, suddenly energized. "We are doing this today," Utau added. "We just spent all night making those sweets. We aren't going to let them get even a little bit stale."

"Okay then," Sanjo-san said, backing off. "You can do it. Just don't over-exert yourself. You still need to do well in school and fulfill all your other needs."

"We know, Sanjo-san," the girls said simultaneously. There was silence in the car.

When they got to their school, the girls departed, saying their goodbyes.

Today was going to be a rough day.

* * *

It was just as rough as Amu and Utau had imagined it would be. They almost fell asleep in all of their classes. They had short fuses. They were constantly worried about the stand.

When the final bell finally rang, the two charged out of their classrooms and to the stand that Sanjo-san had been nice enough to set up for them. Everything was already in order; the sweets, the sign, the stand itself. When Sanjo-san saw them coming, she waved. "I have to go! Good luck, girls!" Sanjo-san turned around and walked back to her car, driving away.

Amu and Utau stood behind the stand, breathing heavily. They'd run as fast as they possibly could with their backpacks for the distance from their classrooms to their stand. In other words, a long way. They both dropped their backpacks. Then the students poured out of the school buildings. "Ah!" Amu exclaimed. "Hurry up and get yourself together! People are coming!"

They walked closer. And closer. And closer. They were right next to them.

And then they passed them up.

Amu blinked. She was sure that at least half of those girls had ordered something from them. And she'd seen them look over at the stand. And then she heard them talking.

"Ugh, are you kidding me? Ikuto's not there? I'm not buying any of their stupid food. As if it would be any good. Besides. I need to cut down on my fat intake. I'm getting chubby."

Amu deflated. They weren't coming. She could practically see the money they'd earned flying out the window.

Utau's eyebrow twitched. She was _not _taking this. She and Amu had worked hard. And those girls were going to take what they asked for. "Hey!" Utau yelled. "We have the sweets that you all wanted! Come and get them! This is the only day that we're giving them out!" Amu winced at the attitude that Utau spoke with. _Note to self: Never aggravate Utau._

The girls who'd ordered things turned and stared at Utau. "Excuse me?" one of the girls said. "Look, just because we asked for them doesn't mean we have to buy them. So you can keep your stupid candy and go fu-"

"Hello, ladies."

Amu whirled around.

"Iku-I mean, Ikuto-sempai." Amu stared at the tall teenager with surprise in her eyes. When had he gotten there?

"Hello, Amu," he replied. "Hello, Onee-chan." Utau glared at her brother but Amu could see the affection in her eyes.

"I-Ikuto," the girl who'd been talking back to Utau stuttered. "Well, hello. I didn't see you there. Well, I wasn't buying the sweets because, um... My mom... My mom is picking me up today, and I really can't be late. She'll be so upset with me if I don't get there when she comes."

"When she comes?" Ikuto asked. "As in she's not here yet? Oh, I'm sure you have enough time to pick up you're things." Ikuto smiled mischievously at the girl. She all but drooled.

"Uh... I guess." She dug around in her bag, looking for money. "O-Oh, here it is! Uh..." The girl handed it to Amu who asked for her name. "Miyaki Fujioka." Amu found her name and got what she'd ordered: five lemon squares, five taffies, and five of everything else.

"That'll be... forty-one dollars." Amu stared in surprise at the number, checking her math. But she checked it three times; that was right. _Forty-one dollars... Forty-one..._

The girl handed over the money. Amu handed her the sweets in return. Before Amy could give it to her, Ikuto grabbed a lemon square from the pile. Amu was about to yell at him to put it back, but she remembered that she was at his portion of the school ground and he was older than her. Ikuto-sempai. As in she had to be polite to him. She made a fist with her hand. "Ikuto-sempai, could you please-?"

"Come here, Miyaki," Ikuto said, ignoring Amu and unwrapping the lemon square. As if in a trance, she stumbled over to him.

"Yes, Ikuto?" she said flirtatiously. At least, it was meant to be flirtatious, but in her trance-like state she couldn't quite manage it.

"Open your mouth for me, would you?"

"What? Why do you want me to open my-?"

Ikuto stuck a corner of the lemon square in Miyaki's mouth, smiling seductively. She blushed like a cherry a batted her eyes. "It's good, isn't it?" Ikuto asked. Miyaki bit down and ate the small piece. Her eyes widened and she looked back up at Ikuto in surprise.

"Wow. This is... Really good."

Ikuto smiled again. "Isn't it?" He smirked devilishly. "Would you mind if I had some?"

Miyaki stared at him for a second before shaking her head rapidly. From the same corner she'd eaten from, Ikuto bit down and took a little for his own. Miyaki blushed again. Amu was also blushing. Miyaki had bitten from that corner. And then Ikuto put his mouth where hers had just been. Did that qualify as an indirect-?

"Oh my goodness," Amy whispered. No one heard her over the roar of the girls in the crowd. Suddenly all of the girls crowded around the small stand, demanding that they have their sweets. It was just like the moment in the cafeteria. But now there were others who were waiting in line to buy something due to the comment of how good it was. Amu smiled as she gave things back to the people.

This was all thanks to Ikuto. He'd really helped them out by getting all those girls to order from Utau and Amu. She wondered if he'd done that on purpose. If he had, then that was really impressive. To be able to get most of the girls in the cafeteria to ask for something from Amu and Utau was really mirac-

Amu froze. She replayed the two scenes that she'd witnessed. The one in the cafeteria and the one with Miyaki. She recalled Ikuto's actions. _Oh, no, _Amu thought. _Oh, no, no, no._ This was bad. This was very, very bad.

Amu turned to Ikuto. "Ikuto, don't you _dare _leave after this," she whispered. "I have to have a word with you."

When everyone was gone, Utau said that she'd count the money. Amu grabbed Ikuto's sleeve and dragged him over under a tree in the shadows. "Amu," he said mischievously. "You're bringing me in the shadows? I'm worried. Are you trying to make a move on me?"

Amu whirled on Ikuto. "How could you do that?!"

Ikuto blinked. And then blinked again. And then again. "What?"

"How could you... How could you just manipulate those girls' _feelings _like that?! What were you _thinking?_ Ugh, Ikuto! Why would you _do _that?! Those girls really care about you-"

Ikuto's eyebrow twitched. "They don't care about me. They care about my looks and my image. They are not the same thing."

"Regardless, what you did was still wrong!" Amu groaned. "Oh, gosh. This is awful! So I just took the money of girls who were manipulated into buying the sweets." She glared up at Ikuto and yelled, "Don't talk to me!"

Amu stalked away from the shocked teen.

"Utau, let's pack up," Amu growled. "We're leaving."

Utau blinked. "What's wrong?"

Amu replied, "Just pack up."

Utau stared at her for a moment longer before packing up as Amu had asked. While she was doing so, Utau looked back to where Amu and Ikuto had been.

Ikuto was gone.

_Lord Jesus, there is anger in my heart and I cannot root it out.  
I know I should calm down and offer the hurt and dissapointment to You,  
but my emotion is running away with me.  
Help me overcome this weakness and give me peace of heart as well as mind.  
Let me learn from this experience and grow into a better human being.  
Amen._

**Aww, man. Amu, sometimes you really aggravate me. Argh! (Lena: Lol argh. Pirate sounds. Ooh, pirates make really good main characters in romance stories. You know, the ones where they all get together and do dirty- Me: Just stop.) I learned last night that some of my best and weirdest stuff sprouts from when I'm writing but I don't know what to write(not writer's block, just not knowing what to write). It's pretty funny actually. But what did you guys think? Good, bad? Review, fave, follow. Appreciate them all! :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello! What's up, guys? (Layla: Like they'll answer. You're not that awesome. Me: Why are you so mean to me? Layla: Because it's fun. And I'm bored. I don't have anything better to do. Besides, there's not enough room in here, so I figure that the least I can do is give you some revenge. Me: O.O Okay then.) Um... So. Chapter nine. Yep. Hope you like it!**

**To Bear Love's Cross**

**Chapter 9**

Ikuto walked into the warehouse where he'd planned on meeting his top gang members and-though he wouldn't tell them-his closest friends. He'd planned meeting them, that is. But as he slowly walked in, all he really wanted to do was go lay in a tree somewhere where no one would find him.

Amu was upset with him. He supposed he could understand why; she was a strong Catholic, and doing something like what he'd done would undoubtedly be looked down upon by the Church. Mentally, he understood. Very well, actually.

But emotionally, he just didn't get it. He knew what she'd found wrong-something he hadn't foreseen-but he couldn't understand _why _it was wrong. He was using the resources available to him. Catholics had some kind of teaching about that, didn't they? Something about being made in God's image.

Ikuto walked deeper into the maze of cardboard boxes until he found where his friends always sat. Rima spotted him first. "Hey, Ikuto."

Ikuto nodded at her. Kukai offered him a cigarette just as he normally did. Ikuto shook his head for the same reason as always. Rima tossed him a bottle of Budweiser. He caught it and uncapped it using his teeth. He promptly took a seat on a box.

"So," Ikuto asked. "Are you all okay? Nothing weird's happened?"

Kukai grinned. "No, Ikuto. We're all great. No other gangs have attacked us."

Rima grumbled, "I don't know why you're so worried about this. We can take care of ourselves. We're in a _gang, _for Christ's sake." Ikuto internally cringed at the word Christ. He just wanted to get Amu off of his mind. Was that so much to ask for?

"Well," Kukai joked. "Maybe he's more worried about us being attacked by the Phantom than he is about the other gangs." Everyone stared at him. He realized that what he'd said was truly tactless. The Phantom was a serious matter. You didn't joke about something like that. That was crossing a line that no one crossed. He laughed nervously. "Sorry, guys. I didn't think about that."

Ikuto sighed. "Since when do you think?"

Kukai blushed and exclaimed, "Hey!" while Rima and Yaya laughed. Well, Rima actually giggled quietly. Yaya full-out cackled.

"AHAHAHA!" Yaya laughed. "THINK! YOU DON'T THINK, KUKAI! AHAHAHAHA! IKUTO-TAN IS RIGHT!"

Ikuto glanced down at his bottle of beer. Seeing Kukai blush had reminded him of Amu. Though her blush was way cuter. Ikuto squeezed his eyes shut. _Stop it. You shouldn't care so much._ But he couldn't push her out. Ikuto stared into the bottle again. Without thinking, he tipped it up and downed half of its contents. The three others stared at him in surprise.

"Uh... Ikuto?" Kukai looked at him. "I don't think that's such a good idea-"

"Did I ask for your opinion?" Ikuto growled. He knew he was being unfair. It's not like Kukai had any knowledge of Amu. And he was only worried about Ikuto. There was no reason to snap at him like that. But Ikuto hadn't really thought about that, and the speed he'd gulped down the alcohol had made his brain go fuzzy. It was a good thing he wasn't driving home.

"Uh..." Kukai didn't know what to say. Something was most definitely wrong with Ikuto. The way he'd just drunk half of his beer in a single second proved that. Ikuto had never been a huge drinker. He definitely did, but he only did it one sip at a time, slow enough that he wouldn't get drunk easily. And only one bottle at that. To see him drink so much in so little time was a bad sign. A _very _bad sign.

"Ikuto," Rima said, warning him.

Ikuto blinked once. Then again. And again. He looked like he was about to say something but didn't. He scrunched his eyebrows and exclaimed, "Ah, dammit!"

Rima's eyes widened. Ikuto _never _swore that severely with Yaya around. Yaya's eyes watered. "Ikuto-tan..."

Ikuto must've realized what he'd said because he turned to Yaya with wide eyes. "Ah... Yaya, I..." He struggled for words. Then he ground his teeth together. "Ah, to hell with it!"

He got up and walked out. No one followed him.

* * *

Amu laid on her bed, hugging her pillow tightly. Utau and Sanjo-san had been more than happy when they'd counted and discovered they'd actually made three thousand, one hundred and fifty dollars. Amu had put on a happy face. And really, she was happy. Unbelievably happy. Who wouldn't be that happy to make so much money and be that much closer to reaching their goals?

But it still ate at her. Ikuto. He'd done something so wrong. He'd manipulated those girls. It was such an awful thing to do. And she'd told him as much.

But she couldn't forget... She couldn't forget that look in his face as she told him off. That look in his eyes. She'd called him out on doing an awful thing, but... He hadn't _known. _He hadn't thought what he'd done was wrong. He looked like a little kid who'd walked into the middle of a busy street. If a small child had walked out into the middle of the street, the parents would be upset. The child would probably be scolded. But the child wouldn't understand what was wrong. No one had taught him that. No one had thought to teach him that. It was so natural to them, they thought the child would know somehow.

Ikuto was like that child. He'd walked into the middle of that busy street. Amu had been the one to pull him out of it and yell at him. And Ikuto hadn't known. No one had thought to tell him that what he'd done was wrong.

And so Amu felt guilty for telling him off.

Amu pulled her pillow even closer to her chest. Why did she feel so miserable? She'd only done the right thing. She'd pushed him back into line. True, maybe she'd been a bit too forceful about it, but still. He'd done wrong, and she'd told him so. So why did she feel so bad about it? Was she so dead-set on the fact that he was in a gang that she didn't want to see that he wasn't as in-the-wrong as Amu saw him to be?

"Argh!" Amu threw her pillow across her room where it hit the door and fell to the ground. She curled up into a ball and tried to turn her brain off.

She fell asleep before she managed to do that task.

* * *

Amu and Utau were driving to school silently while Sanjo-san drove.

Utau was worried about Amu. She'd never seen Amu get upset like she'd been yesterday. Amu wasn't the type to get angry over nothing. And why did she look so guilty today? It didn't make any sense.

Amu sighed. She couldn't get over how she'd yelled at Ikuto yesterday. She was ashamed of herself. She knew that she should forgive herself and move on, but she couldn't. There was just something about the fact that it was Ikuto that kept her from allowing herself that peace.

They arrived at school. Amu showed no sign of moving. Utau gently shook her shoulder. "Amu? We're here."

Amu blinked and realized she'd spent the last ten minutes thinking about how awful her actions were. She picked up her backpack and hauled her sorry self out of the car. She walked directly into her first period classroom.

Amu forced herself into her studies for the rest of the day, not allowing herself to think of anything but her schoolwork. Even at lunch she didn't even talk to anyone; directing her attention to somewhere that she'd be allowed to drift was something that she didn't want to do. She dove back into her textbook, studying, putting her whole heart-and mind-into it.

That's how the rest of the day went until she had to leave school. She was headed to the carpool where her and Utau would driven by Sanjo-san. Sanjo-san drove them every day because Utau's mother left early every morning and Amu lived along the route to the school from her house so they went together. She was halfway to the gate when a tall person accidentally bumped into her.

Amu turned around to see who'd hit her. She had to look up to see the person's face. When she saw his face, all the blood drained from her face.

Ikuto. Ikuto had run into her.

"U-Um..." Amu didn't know what to say. She knew what she had to do, but she didn't know how to say it. Ikuto looked down at Amu in surprise. He turned his head a little, not wanting her to see his guilty expression.

"Look, I-" Amu and Ikuto looked at each other, realizing that they'd both started talking at the same time. They smiled a little.

"I'll go first," Amu said. "I'm really sorry that-" Amu remembered that they were still on school property so she had to respect him. If anyone else found out that she'd yelled at him like that, she'd regret it for the rest of her life. "I'm really sorry about what I did yesterday... I had no right to do that. I'm sorry, Ikuto-sempai."

Ikuto stared down at her in shock. Then he made another guilty expression, not hiding his face from her this time. "No, it's not your fault. I didn't think about what I did. It wasn't right. I know that now. I guess I just never really thought about it from your point of view. I just wanted to help you out and I didn't know of any other way to do it." He looked around at everyone around them. Normally his presence would attract the view of every girl within a hundred yard radius, but they were all too busy running out of the gate to get home to even notice him.

Ikuto leaned down until his mouth was next to her ear. His breath tickled her ear and she shivered. "And you know, if you say it quietly so no one else can hear, then you can call me Ikuto at school."

Amu blushed. Calling him Ikuto outside of school was natural and felt completely normal. But at school? That was unheard of. Something no one does. Something... forbidden. Somehow, breaking the rules of politeness like that made her really happy. And devious, too. It wasn't completely a bad feeling, either.

_Sorry, God, _Amu prayed. _I know I shouldn't feel this way... Rules are there for a reason. Rules are made to not be broken. But I just can't resist. And besides, I call him Ikuto outside of school... Is it really so bad to call him that inside?_

Ikuto stood back up normally and said, "Bye, Amu. I'll see you soon."

Amu watched his retreating back and couldn't help but giggle. Something about him... Something about him just made her feel different. Mischievous.

And it made her feel a little... Just a little bit... thrilled.

_I can't seem to shake the harm that's been done to me off my shoulders.  
I am wallowing in the anger I feel.  
Lord, I shouldn't think the vengeful thoughts that I have.  
You have called me to forgive every single person that wrongs me.  
I need Your strength to overcome these trespasses against me.  
Father, I want to forgive these people.  
Please cast the devil's evil ways from me.  
I want to look at these people and see the lost souls that need You.  
I want to forgive them completely so that you can use me however You wish,  
to be Jesus to them.  
Father, I am done holding these grudges!  
Forgive me for holding onto them.  
I cast this burden at Your throne now.  
Do with me as You please, Father.  
I love You and thank you for Your patience with me.  
Amen._

**Tada! They've forgiven each other! XD I'm happy that this turned out so well. Lol. I was looking at my other stories to see if anyone commented on them and literally one of them has NINETY NINE comments. I was laughing just like, the fact that I have ninety nine. That would happen. XP I'm not complaining though. I'd expected it to get one review. Maybe. Lol. XP So what do you guys think? Good, bad? Why on earth did you do x, y, and z? I won't know unless you review and tell me or fave/follow!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey! Okay, so I'm still not really sure if I'm gonna split this up into two chapters or keep it in one cuz the way that I see it working out is that it'll be one REAAAAALLLLYYYY LOOOOOONG chapter or two short ones. And I'm not sure if I can find a clean cutoff point, so... I guess we'll see how things turn out, huh? Omg I'm actually so excited for this chapter. Why, you ask? Continue reading to find out. :D XP Enjoy!**

**To Bear Love's Cross**

**Chapter 10**

Amu, Utau, Nagi, and Kairi sat in a circle in the youth group's own building. It was small, but comfortable and welcoming. Sanjo-san was standing at the long table that sat in the middle of the room.

"Okay," Sanjo-san said. "So how much money do we have now?"

Amu answered cheerily, "Three thousand, one hundred and fifty dollars."

Utau glanced at Amu from the corner of her eye. She was getting suspicious. The day before, Amu had been dead silent, unresponsive, almost lifeless. She talked as little as possible and whenever she did talk, she had a dazed look in her eyes, under-toned with a small dose of guilt. And now, suddenly here she was, bright and cheery, just as usual. Utau wasn't sure what had happened the day before, but this might've been the first time that she'd seen Amu act so... Moody.

"Awesome!" Sanjo-san exclaimed. "That's amazing! It's miraculous! At this rate, it won't be long at all until you all have the money to pull this off." She looked down at a stack of papers before picking them up and letting them drop to the table, trying to straighten them out. She smiled at the children. "Well, what fund raiser do you have planned next?"

Utau spoke up. "Well, me and Amu were thinking that we could have a car wash. It might not make quite as much money as the bake sale, but we think it will still get us a lot. " The young woman turned to the other group members. "What do you guys think?"

Nagi looked at the ceiling thoughtfully. "Well, it _would _be fun. And it would make a good bit of money."

Kairi pushed his glasses up his nose. "It's a good idea. And neither of us two have anything better."

"Then it's settled!" Amu exclaimed happily. "When do you want to do it?"

"As soon as possible!" Sanjo-san said firmly. "Remember, we have a time limit for this. It can't take too long."

Utau thought for a moment. "The earliest we can do it is two days from now. We need time to buy supplies and to make some signs. Sound good?" Everyone nodded and spoke their agreement. "Good! We're set!"

Sanjo-san smiled and said, "Alright then! It looks like we're alright then! So... I suppose you can all go now."

Amu and Utau stayed behind since Sanjo-san was bringing them home. Amu thought for a moment. Sanjo-san was acting really excited about this... But she couldn't help but wonder if maybe she wasn't as happy as she appeared to be? It was the first time the thought had occurred to her. She glanced at Sanjo-san out of the corner of her eye. "Um... Sanjo-san... You're sure that you're okay with this?"

Sanjo-san blinked in puzzlement. "Of course I am. Otherwise I wouldn't be supporting it." She turned to look at Amu quizzically. "Why do you ask?"

Amu hurriedly waved her hands in front of her. "N-no reason! I'm just curious. Wanted to make sure that we weren't unintentionally dragging you around and making you do something you don't want to do."

Sanjo-san smiled tenderly. "Amu-chan, even if I didn't want to, I'd still allow you to 'drag me around'. You kids... You're like stars. Even when someone says that you can't do something, you just push through and keep on trying. You shine. Like a priceless jewel. That's something that I don't see very much in people who are my age. It's... Nice. Well, what could be a better reason to lead the youth group? Aside from serving God, of course."

Amu was surprised at her words. She was surprised. She didn't really think that she was _that _special. She was just your average fifth grader. The others in the group, yes. They were more than special. But her... She was average. That's what she thought, at least. She smiled, blushing. "Thanks!"

Sanjo-san smiled and said, "Time to head home, girls!"

Amu was dropped off at her house first. She walked through the door and exclaimed, "I'm home!" Her parents ushered her in and they ate dinner before Amu ran up to her room and fell asleep.

* * *

Meanwhile, Utau stood in her own kitchen, making dinner for herself. She held a knife in her hand, cutting up chicken to make chicken strips. She placed the sharp object next to her and reached for the spices she would use. Her mother was out somewhere. She didn't know where; and as long as she was being honest, she didn't really care. She shoved the trail of thought out of her head. No, that was a bad thought to think. She prayed to God and asked him to forgive her.

"Having fun?"

Utau didn't so much as twitch. "Hello, Ikuto. Thanks for saying 'hi, how are you?' like a normal person."

Ikuto smirked. "Well, it's good to see you too, sis. I try to keep up our agreement and this is the thanks I get."

Utau smiled. "Maybe if you came through the front door, once again, _like a normal person, _then I would act a little happier to see you."

Ikuto shrugged. "Oh, well. It's not my fault that I like to come into my own home through the window." He glanced down at Utau's hands. She reached for a spice. "Wrong one."

Utau stared at him. "No, it's not. This is the same one I use every time."

Ikuto raised an eyebrow. "You put garlic powder in your chicken strips?"

Utau blinked and looked down at what she held. She blushed. She put it back in the cabinet hastily. "Hey! It's not my fault! I keep the dry mix I use in a container that says 'garlic powder' on it!"

Ikuto grinned. "You should probably put a different label on it."

"Oh, no one asked you!"

Ikuto shook his head. "Oh, little sister Utau. What would you do if you didn't have a wonderful big brother like me?"

Said little sister placed her index finger on her chin. "Hmm, let's see, what would I do? Oh yeah." She removed her finger. "I'd jump for joy."

Ikuto smirked. What a sister he had. "Hey, I came to ask you something."

Utau sighed. "I thought you'd come for something. You came to see me last night too, and that was your visit for the one-week rule. What do you want?"

"What are you guys doing next?"

Utau blinked. She stared quizzically at her brother. "What?"

"You know, you and your youth group thing. Or whatever it's called. What are you doing next? With the bake sale. That wasn't it, was it?"

Utau smiled. "I see. So you're interested. Any particular reason why?"

Ikuto furrowed his eyebrows. "Of course not. Why do you ask?"

Utau stared at her brother through the corner of her eye as she gently dropped a chicken strip in the hot oil she had on the stove. "Oh, just wondering. After all, you've never been so interested in my youth group before now. I was wondering if it had something to do with a certain friend of mine."

Ikuto thought for a moment. A friend of Utau's? Realization hit him. "Oh! You mean Amu?"

Utau smirked. "Your words, not mine." She glanced at him again. "But you haven't ever taken such an interest in a girl before."

Ikuto thought about it. Did he really start asking more about the youth group because of Amu? He'd just suddenly felt more invested in Utau's club. "Well, she is an amusing girl. But that's not why I'm asking."

"Is that so? Then why are you asking?"

"Is it that wrong to want to help my sister's group?"

"You've never been one to jump at the chance to help someone, let alone try to find out if you can help."

Ikuto had no answer to that.

Utau shrugged. "Well, I suppose it won't be too much harm to tell you. It's going to be two days from now. We're having a car wash."

Ikuto nodded. A car wash. That was an old one. "Nice. Good to hear." Ikuto turned around to leave. "Well, I guess I'll be on my way."

"Hey!" Ikuto turned back at the sound of Utau's voice. "You know, if you can wait for five minutes, we can have dinner together."

Ikuto stopped and thought. It would be nice to have that. He looked at Utau's hopeful face. But then he remembered why he'd ignored her for so long. He turned back around. "No, I'm good. Thanks for the offer, though."

Ikuto didn't have to turn around to see the crestfallen expression on his sister's face.

**Aww. I'm an awful person. Why did I make Ikuto do that? :( Oh well. I suppose we'll see what happens next. Since that last scene ended up being longer than I'd planned it, the part I'm excited to write will be in the next chapter. Or maybe the chapter after that. I don't really know. But it'll be up soon! So what did you think? Review, fave, follow are all appreciated!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey! Um... Not really anything I wanna say here. So... Yeah. I'm really excited for this chapter though. XD I hope you'll see why. O.O But... Enjoy, I guess! Jeez. I should really be doing homework right now... Oh, and the reason the story is moving so slow is just because I'm being weird. I have a bunch of ideas that I wanna put in but I feel like it's not far enough into the story to put them in yet. I'm strange. XP**

**To Bear Love's Cross**

**Chapter 11**

Amu rose her head off of her pillow. She looked out her glass French doors. The sun shone brightly. She smiled and walked over to open it, wanting to feel the air and the warmth of the sun on her body. She opened the door and stepped outside.

And stepped right back in, slamming the door shut behind her.

"What the heck?!" Amu whisper-yelled. "It's _freezing _out there!" Dread filled her stomach. "Oh, no. And I have to go stand out there for hours, washing cars." She sighed. "This is not going to be good. I can feel it already."

She shook her head. "I've got to get ready! I have to be excited! I can't just let this get to me, just like that! What kind of Catholic am I? Rain or snow, hot or cold, helping people is helping people, and that's what I'm doing today!"

Amu walked over to her closet and browsed around. She grimaced when she realized all of her long pants were dirty. She would have to rough it out with shorts. She made sure to pick a nice, wooly sweater to wear. It was old and used-to-be-white gray. She slipped on some tennis shoes and glanced at herself in the mirror. All good, it seemed. She smiled and ran out the door of her room.

"Mom!" Amu exclaimed. "I'm leaving to go wash cars!"

Midori smiled as she replied, "Okay! I'll see you later! Good luck, Amu-chan!"

Amu was already out the door. "Bye!"

Amu quickly hopped onto her bike and rode over to Sanjo-san's house where they were holding the event. What she didn't expect to see was a head of blue hair. Amu grumbled something about a "nosy cat" before walking over to where she saw the teenager.

"Ikuto!" Amu exclaimed.

Ikuto turned around as if he hadn't expected to see her there. _Well, maybe he didn't. He could've just come for Utau. He's her sister, after all. _"Amu!" he said in dramatic surprise. "I didn't know you were going to be here!"

"What are you doing here?" Amu growled.

Ikuto smirked. "What, I can't help out my sister and her friends? Besides, I brought help."

Right as he said that, a brunette man charged out from behind the house. "Ikuto!" he panted. "Y... Your sister is...!" He steadied his breath before continuing excitedly. "Your sister is a goddess! She just beat me at a ramen eating contest! Me! Kukai Souma! _At a ramen eating contest!_"

Ikuto stared at him warily. "Watch what you say about her in front of me." Amu couldn't help but smile a little. He was being protective of Utau. Somehow, that was unbelievably adorable.

Amu shook her head. It was time to work. She walked into the backyard where everyone was meeting to do the pre-event preparations. Nagi and a doll-looking girl were arguing in front of a bucket of soapy water that Nagi was pulling into the front yard. The girl looked like she wasn't doing anything. Amu glanced at Ikuto. "Help, huh?" she said.

Ikuto smirked. "I said they were help. I didn't say they were _helpful._"

Kukai's hand flew to his chest. "I'm _hurt_, Tsukiyomi! Are you saying that I'm not useful?"

Ikuto rolled his eyes. "You were just talking about my sister beating you in a ramen contest. Considering this is the first time you've met her, I doubt that you had a ramen eating contest before I asked you to come help out."

Kukai looked like he was going to say something, but then didn't. He just turned away and called over his shoulder, "It's not my fault that no one has come to get their car washed yet! I'm just passing time!"

Amu raised an eyebrow. She wasn't sure what to make out of these people that Ikuto had brought along with him. She shook her head and began searching for Kairi, just to find that he wasn't there. "Sanjo-san!" Amu exclaimed. "Do you know where Kairi-kun is?"

"If you're looking for the kid with glasses and green hair, he left to go hold some signs and do some advertising with Yaya," Ikuto replied.

"Who's Yaya?" I asked, not entirely expecting the answer he gave me.

"She's from my gang."

Amu froze. She kept telling herself that she was just fine with Ikuto being a gang leader, so long as he was a nice person. And he was... For the most part. Sort of. Except for sometimes... A lot of times.

_Okay, I admit it_, Amu thought to herself. _He's not exactly a good person, but it's not like he's terrible. Sure, he's confusing, and annoying, and perverted, but he's a decent guy. _

That's what she told herself, anyways. After all, what other reason could she possibly have for being friends with him?

Amu shook her head. She was thinking to deeply into things. She brought herself back to the real world and out of her thoughts. "Is she... You know..." Amu said, not sure how to put her question tactfully.

"An evil hooligan who is up to no good?" Ikuto said half-jokingly, but the other half she wasn't sure exactly what it was. "No, she's not. In fact, she's probably the best of all of us."

Amu cocked her head to the side. "All of us?"

"Yeah. Rima and Kukai are from my gang too."

Amu didn't know why that surprised her so much. It shouldn't. But somehow, she just couldn't believe that Ikuto had asked three of his fellow gang members to come help us with our Catholic car wash.

"Okay," Amu said, trying to hide the shock in her voice. For some reason she couldn't understand, Ikuto seemed to be watching her, calculating. "That's... Nice. Thank you for asking them to help out."

Ikuto smirked. "Ask. Right."

Amu wasn't really sure she wanted to know what that was supposed to mean.

"Are you _trying _to seem untrustworthy?" Amu mumbled to herself, but of course Ikuto heard.

"What if I am?"

Amu stared at him. His face still had that joking but calculating expression. She wasn't sure just what he was trying to pull. He came here to help out and brought help, and now he's here acting like an untrustworthy jerk who's worthy of the title gang leader.

"Amu!"

Amu turned to Utau who was running towards her. "Yes?"

"Amu, we've got people out front."

Amu smiled and ran out to where the cars sat waiting. "Here we go!"

* * *

_Meanwhile..._

Kairi stood on the patch of grass that sat between the two opposite roads, holding a conspicuous sign. He didn't say much. The bouncy pigtailed girl said enough that he didn't have to as things stood.

"Oi!" Yaya exclaimed. "We're having a carwash at this address! Ooooooiiiiii!" Yaya turned to stare at Kairi who was still silent. "Kairi-kun!" she said louder than necessary. "Yaya can't be the only one who is yelling! Kairi-kun has to do it too!"

Kairi pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and blushed at being called out on his silence. "Yaya-san, I would, but you're already doing such a good job of it, I would just ruin all your hard-"

"NO!" Yaya yelled again. "NOT ALLOWED! Kairi-kun HAS to scream with Yaya! I'm older than you, so Kairi HAS to listen!"

Kairi sweat-dropped. "H-hai, Yaya-san." Sucking in a deep breath, the green-haired preteen began calling out to the people in cars, though not half as loudly as the girl next to him did.

_Today is going to be an interesting day._

* * *

"Amu-chan!"

Amu turned from the car she was washing to see a head of blonde hair bobbing among the cars that had accumulated around the house. She smiled brightly. "Tadase-kun!"

Tadase waved at Amu. "I was just coming because I wanted to know if there was any way I could help."

Amu thought. "Well, we could always use more help washing!" Amu looked around. "There's a bucket of soap-water and a hose right over there! Just go ahead and start on a car that doesn't have anyone working on it or a piece of paper on it."

Tadase nodded and hurried to do as asked. Amu glanced around. Kukai wasn't following the idea of work, apparently, because he was too busy teasing Utau to actually do anything. Nagi was working at a perfectly normal pace, but Rima wasn't really doing much. Amu sighed. This wasn't working as quickly as she'd hoped it would. She glanced up again. There was Kukai, Utau, Nagi, and Rima... But where was Ikuto?

As if on cue, someone blew into the inside of her ear. Amu jumped and turned to glare at the person who'd done so. "Ikuto!" Amu growled. "What are you doing? You're supposed to be _helping_, not sexually harassing people!"

Ikuto smirked. "I am helping. I was coming over to ask if I could join you."

"Why do you want to help me? There's a bunch of other cars that no one is working on. Why not go to one of those?"

Ikuto's smirk somehow became even more mischievous than before. "Because I want to help you."

Amu wasn't sure how to respond, but she didn't have to, because the next second, Kukai yelled, "WATER WAR!" and began hosing everyone down. Rima exclaimed, "My hair! You're going to mess up my hair!" Nagi laughed. Utau's eyes were on fire as she yelled back, "YOU'RE ON, SOUMA!" Kukai shot some water at Tadase who barely dodged it.

"Hey!" he exclaimed. Kukai dodged between cars, avoiding any water being shot back at him. "I'll get you!" He aimed carefully, determined to hit Kukai. And then, he shot the water straight at Kukai.

Kukai. Who was right in front of me at that moment.

Kukai who was faster than Tadase could catch.

The next thing I knew, I was drenched in cold water, made even colder by the chilly weather outside. Amu looked down at herself and blushed hard, throwing her hands over herself.

Her white bikini with strawberries on it was showing through her shirt.

"A-Amu-chan!" Tadase squeaked, blushing. "I-I... I'm so sorry, Amu-chan!"

Amu didn't have any time to respond because suddenly, someone grabbed her wrist and began dragging her inside the house. Amu stumbled after the person, looking up to see that it was a certain teenager with midnight blue hair.

"I-Ikuto!" Amu exclaimed. Ikuto didn't respond. She could just barely see the serious-almost deadly-expression on his face. Amu's blush subsided a bit when she saw the look on his face.

Ikuto dragged her into Sanjo-san's house, not stopping or slowing. He threw the door open and pushed Amu inside, shutting it after her. Amu was surprised at the sudden force that he showed. It wasn't anything that could make her fall, but it was more than he usually treated her with. Typically he wouldn't touch her or if he did, he'd do so gently as if she were a doll. But not this time. This time he treated her harsh enough that she couldn't resist him even if she wanted to.

Ikuto locked the door behind himself and Amu suddenly became very aware of her situation. She was alone in a locked room with a seventeen-year-old guy. She didn't think that Ikuto would do anything to her, but it was still a little strange to think of the situation in a detached manner like that.

And then Ikuto started taking off his shirt.

"I-Ikuto!" Amu yelled, her blush increasing tenfold. At the least. "What are you _doing?! _Put that back on!"

His back to her, he replied emotionlessly, "Would you rather stay in that shirt and freeze to death outside?"

Amu saw that he was wearing a white tank top underneath his dark blue long-sleeved shirt. Amu widened her eyes when she realized what he was doing. "Y-you want me to wear your shirt?"

"Well, when you put it that way, it sounds weird."

He wanted her to stay warm. He was worried that she would get sick if she stayed like this. "Are you going to take it?"

Amu blushed. "B-but won't you be cold?"

He made a strange sound in the back of his throat. "Trust me. I'll be fine."

Slowly, Amu took the shirt Ikuto held, still facing away from her. "Don't you dare peek!"

"Why would I look? It's not like I _want_ you to hate me."

Amu made a face. Something about the way he stressed the word "want" made her think about the question she'd posed earlier and his response.

Turning her back to Ikuto, she slowly slipped off her own soaked sweater. She glanced at him over her shoulder. He stood staring straight ahead, not so much as budging from where he'd stood before.

_He really isn't going to look. _Amu threw her soaked sweater on the ground and put Ikuto's shirt on. The sleeves went at least an inch past her fingertips, probably more. She breathed in deeply and smiled. He smelled really good. Like man's shampoo and mint... Catnip? Amu couldn't help but laugh.

"What is it? What's so funny?"

"No, it's nothing," Amu said, still smiling. She could still feel his warmth in the fabric. She shook her head and turned around. "Okay, you can look again."

Ikuto turned around and sighed in relief. "Good. Now don't get that wet, or I'll have to drag you home." Ikuto unlocked the front door and walked out. Smiling, Amu picked up the sweater and followed him out.

He really wasn't all that bad.

_Lord Jesus,  
give us the humility wherever pride reigns,  
pardon wherever offense abides,  
grace wherever sin abounds;  
we pray to You;  
Jesus Christ, Risen Lord, have mercy on us!  
Amen._

**Done! YES! So? Huh? Whaddya think? I enjoyed writing this chapter. XD So what do you think? REview, fave, follow. All appreciated greatly! :D**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey, guys! Okay... Yeah. (Layla: Why do you leave author's notes if you have nothing to say? Me: Because... Just because. It feels wrong to not have one. I don't know. Layla: *looks at readers* She's a little slow, so try to put up with her. It's hard, but do your best. Me: No one asked you, Layla!) Okay. Chapter twelve! Things are starting to speed up a little bit. Interesting things happening in more chapters. So here we go. Hope you like it!**

**To Bear Love's Cross**

**Chapter 12**

Amu stared helplessly at Sanjo-san. "I'm sorry, you guys," Sanjo-san said sadly, sympathetically.

All of the children in the Catholic youth group were giving Sanjo-san looks of desperation.

"That can't be right," Utau said. "There's no way. You have to have done the wrong calculations."

Sanjo-san gave her a sad glance. "I wish I had. But I checked it three times."

Nagi looked down at the table in front of him. "Five hundred and sixty dollars."

Amu couldn't believe it. They'd done so much work. Five hundred and sixty dollars was a lot of money. But they were running out of time. They had to do another major fund raiser. A _major _one. One that made even more money than the bake sale. But they only had a week and a half. At this point it would probably take them a week to come up with another big fundraiser. Plus they only had five volunteers. They'd need at least a hundred to pull of what they'd planned.

"Okay," Amu said shakily. "So we need six thousand dollars... Six thousand... By the end of next week..." Amu suddenly got dizzy and had to sit down. Kairi didn't say anything.

"We can still do this!" Nagi said, but even he sounded a bit doubtful. Even so, Amu clung to his words, trying to regain her confidence in the group.

"He's right," Amu said. The dizziness went away and she stood up again. "We can do this. We just have to come up with some other major fund raiser. We can do this!"

Everyone else seemed to be regaining their confidence. Sanjo-san smiled at the kids. She loved that no matter what happened, they always had hope that they could achieve their goals. "Well, it's getting late." The kids looked outside and realized that the sun was already setting.

"Oh, shoot!" Amu exclaimed. "I promised I'd be back home at eight!" She ran toward the door, not even thinking. "Bye!"

She had to take the short way home. That way had a lot of back alleys and unused streets, but she'd have to go with it.

She was halfway home when he came.

Amu was in one of the least used streets. She was walking because she'd used up too much energy running thus far. Her guard was down when it should've been up.

"Hey, girl, you wanna play?"

Amu whirled around. There was a man standing there. He was at least fifty years old and overweight. But he had her cornered, and she was much smaller than him. There was no room for her to run away from him and she certainly couldn't use force. All of the blood drained from her face.

She was trapped.

"C'mon, sexy," he continued. "You were waiting for this, weren't you? I mean, look at what you're wearing."

Amu realized she was still wearing Ikuto's too-big shirt. And the shirt covered her shorts.

"N-no, you don't understand!" Amu exclaimed, like it would make a difference.

The man stalked towards Amu. "Oh, no, I understand. You were waiting for me to come. I know."

This guy wasn't just a pervert, apparently. He was an _insane _pervert. He thought she was _waiting _for him?

"Don't worry about a thing, sugar. You're gonna love every minute of this." He lunged toward her.

A single tear escaped her eyes.

And another tall man jumped in front of her.

The pervert came to a halt. His eyes widened and he paled. "N-no," he stuttered, terrified. "There's no way! Is this really you?"

The new, lean man kicked the pervert in the stomach and sent him flying into a light post. He stalked towards him quickly.

The lean man-her savior-was wearing a dark hoodie and straight-legged pants. The hood on his top was up, so she couldn't see the color of his hair. She couldn't see his face from her angle.

Her savior grabbed the pervert by the front of his shirt and raised a fist as if to punch him.

"Wait!"

The man froze, fist still raised. He turned his head to the side, looking at Amu from his peripheral. At least, she assumed so.

She couldn't tell because he wore a white mask to hide his face.

A chill ran down Amu's spine. Something about having a mask staring at her like that was unbelievably creepy. But at the same time, a strange warmth spread throughout her chest. This man had saved her. For no reason, this masked man had chosen to put himself in danger for her sake.

It appeared that the man was waiting for an explanation for her stopping him. "It's just..." Amu paused, trying to voice her thoughts. "He didn't get to do anything to me. So just because he attempted to do... _things _to me doesn't mean he deserves to be beaten up. We can just turn him in to the police. So don't just attack him as pay-"

The pervert shook my savior's hand off of him and he charged away into the night. The man with the mask looked like he was about to bolt after him, but seemed to glance at Amu again and stayed put.

The two people stared at each other, neither of them moving an inch or saying a word. Amu looked at the ground, blushing. She realized she hadn't thanked the man yet.

Suddenly, what just happened truly hit her and she felt the need to touch someone, to have some kind of comfort. So she knew where she wanted to go.

"Um... Thank you so much!" Amu said, bowing deeply. She glanced up at him and saw him staring down at her. He said nothing. She quickly stood up straight again.

"Well... I'm going to go now." Amu wasn't sure what to do next. "Bye!" She scurried away. She edited her course until she was walking to her new destination. Five minutes later, she began slowing down and gradually came to a stop.

"If you're going to follow me, you might as well walk with me."

No response. Then, the sound of near-silent footsteps approaching from behind her. She turned around to see the masked man. Even without him voicing it, his question was obvious. "I knew you were there because you this kind of presence. It's strange."

No response.

Amu stared at him. "What's your name?"

No response.

She blinked. "Are you going to talk to me or are you just going to stand there?"

No response.

She watched him, calculating. "You're a stalker, aren't you?"

No response.

Amu sweat-dropped. She sighed. "Why did you save me? I've never met you before. You have no reason to. And based on your actions, you don't seem like the kind of person who goes out of his way to save other people."

No response. Then he looked down at the ground and shrugged, almost imperceptibly. Amu didn't push it. Somehow she felt like that was the best she was going to get from him. She started walking again. The man followed behind her.

Amu noticed that he always stood at least two feet behind her. "Walk _with _me. You really do look like a stalker right now." No answer. He didn't try to catch up to her. Amu was starting to get a little annoyed. "You know, you're really frustrating."

She heard him stop walking. She turned around. "What's wrong-?"

The masked man was bent over until he was face-to-face with Amu. Shivers ran up her spine again. The mask stared blankly at her. She turned her head away. "Stop doing that. It's creepy."

When he straightened back up, she realized that that had been his point. She blushed at having fallen into his trap. She noticed the slight adjustment of his head. She looked down and realized he was staring at her shirt. She blushed harder. "This isn't mine! My shirt got wet and my friend lent me his. But he's a lot taller than me."

No response, as usual.

Amu sighed. "Just do whatever you want. I have to get to my friend's house." It took another ten minutes to get to Utau's house.

Amu closed her eyes when she got there and turned to the masked man. "Hey, thanks for walking me-"

She stopped talking.

He was gone.

Amu glared at the empty space where the man had stood. Even if he'd saved her, he was really frustrating. She knocked on Utau's door. Utau answered. As usual, her mother wasn't there. Amu remembered the traumatic experience she'd just been through. Tears welled up in her eyes. "Utau..."

The older girl's eyes widened. "Hey, hey, it's okay. Let me call your mom and ask her if you can spend the night. You just come in and sit down. I'll be with you as fast as I can, okay?"

Amu nodded. "O-okay."

She sat down on the sofa in Utau's living room, curling into a ball. She heard Utau talking to Amu's mom before hanging up a minute later. She walked into the living room and sat next to Amu, petting her softly, comfortingly. "It's okay. Why don't you tell me what happened?"

So Amu retold the whole tale, leaving out the part about the masked man. When she was finished, Utau growled. "That's it. I'm going to find that man and murder him."

Amu let out a choked laugh. "You can't do that, Utau."

"You're right. That's against the law. And God's law too." She smirked evilly. "Besides. If he goes to jail, they'll do all the work for me."

Amu couldn't help but laugh. Her friend was so... There wasn't even a word to describe her. "Thanks, Utau."

Utau smiled. "Why don't I go get us something to drink? Coke?"

Amu sniffled and smiled. "Yes, please."

Utau got up and walked into the kitchen. Just liked she normally does, she started singing as she got the Cokes. Amu let herself slip into the song and her beautiful voice. She'd always said she wanted to share her voice with the world as soon as possible. She really could do it if she wanted to. She could probably draw a huge crowd right now if she had a stage and some equipment. Amu wondered how she could help Utau get discovered-

Amu sat up straight as a board, eyes wide. "I've got it," she whispered. "I know what our major fund raiser can be."

_God of love,  
I thank you for the people in my life  
who are easy to love.  
I thank you for my family and friends  
who understand my actions,  
who support me in my decisions,  
and whose presence can lift the burden of a thorny day._

_Help with those who are difficult to love.  
When they come at me with criticism  
and wild expectations,  
when they ignore me  
or try to bend me to their will,  
let me recognize their flaws and dangers.  
But then let me remember your attitude toward them,  
and lead me to see them  
in the light of your love.  
_

_Amen.  
_

**Done! I actually kinda liked writing this one. It was fun. XP I was a little iffy about putting in the scene of the masked man walking Amu home. I wasn't sure whether or not it would be a good idea. I was worried it would kinda ruin his mystery and all. I hope it worked out okay. What do you guys think? Review, fave, follow. All of them are fantastic! See you next time!**


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